A Unified World Model in Human Posterior Parietal Cortex

How does the brain understand the physical world, predict future events, and plan actions? Are these problems solved by a unified world model, as hypothesized by cognitive scientists and artificial intelligence researchers? Posterior parietal cortex has been implicated in all these functions, but whether the same neurons support each of them is unknown. We recorded from the superior parietal lobule (SPL) of two tetraplegic participants implanted with microelectrode arrays. SPL units preferentially engaged by intuitive physics, judging block-tower stability and viewing naturalistic physical events, also predicted whether moving objects would collide hundreds of milliseconds before contact, generalizing between different physical scenarios. These populations also encoded which hand action the participant intended to perform. These findings identify SPL as a substrate for physical world modeling.

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Publication Details

Journal
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Published
2026-11-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.30.762936
Primary Topic
Motor Control and Adaptation
Type
preprint

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preprint

A Unified World Model in Human Posterior Parietal Cortex

Ausaf Bari, Nancy Kanwisher, Emily Rose Rosario, Vasiliki Bougou et al.
2 links
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Motor Control and Adaptation
preprint

A Unified World Model in Human Posterior Parietal Cortex

Ausaf Bari, Nancy Kanwisher, Emily Rose Rosario, Vasiliki Bougou, Richard A. Andersen, Kelsie Pejsa, Joshua B. Tenenbaum, Raghavendrarao T Pramod
preprint en

Abstract

How does the brain understand the physical world, predict future events, and plan actions? Are these problems solved by a unified world model, as hypothesized by cognitive scientists and artificial intelligence researchers? Posterior parietal cortex has been implicated in all these functions, but whether the same neurons support each of them is unknown. We recorded from the superior parietal lobule (SPL) of two tetraplegic participants implanted with microelectrode arrays. SPL units preferentially engaged by intuitive physics, judging block-tower stability and viewing naturalistic physical events, also predicted whether moving objects would collide hundreds of milliseconds before contact, generalizing between different physical scenarios. These populations also encoded which hand action the participant intended to perform. These findings identify SPL as a substrate for physical world modeling.

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
California Institute of Technology (US), University of California, Los Angeles (US), Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation (US), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
California Institute of Technology, James G. Boswell Foundation, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, National Institutes of Health, Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, Office of Naval Research
Motor Control and Adaptation
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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A Unified World Model in Human Posterior Parietal Cortex — Ausaf Bari, Nancy Kanwisher, et al. · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS