Final answer:
Optic ataxia and deficits in eye gaze involve different regions of the parietal lobe. Optic ataxia affects the ability to guide reaching movements while deficits in eye gaze influence the ability to direct the eyes to a target. Both are related to how visual information is processed but have distinct symptoms based on lesion location.
Step-by-step explanation:
The difference between optic ataxia and deficits in eye gaze and visually guided reaching involves the specific regions of the parietal lobe affected by a lesion. Optic ataxia is a disorder of visually guided reaching movements that results from damage to the parieto-occipital regions of the brain. Individuals with optic ataxia have difficulty reaching for objects under visual guidance, which implies a disconnection between visual input and motor coordination. On the other hand, deficits in eye gaze typically result from a lesion more anterior in the parietal lobe and affect the ability to direct the eyes toward a target. The occipital lobe, located at the back of the brain and responsible for vision, receives visual field information that decussates at the optic chiasm so that each hemisphere processes the visual information from the opposite visual field. Lesions in the occipital or parietal lobes can lead to varying types of visual and coordination deficits, depending on the precise location and extent of the damage.