Parietal lobes

Division of the cerebrum into lobes (lobi), side view.

The parietal lobe or parietal lobe ( Latin lobe parietalis ) is a section of the cerebrum .

anatomy

The anterior border of the parietal lobe is formed by the central groove ( sulcus centralis ). Its posterior border to the occipital lobe extends in an imaginary line from the sulcus parietooccipitalis towards the incisura praeoccipitalis. Its lower (ventral) border to the temporal lobe is at the level of the lateral sulcus (Sylvian fissure).

The parietal lobe houses two other important anatomical structures: the postcentral sulcus, which runs parallel to the central groove and delimits the anterior parietal lobe. Often attached to the postcentral sulcus is the intraparietal sulcus, which itself divides the posterior parietal cortex (cortex parietalis posterior) into an upper ( lobule parietalis superior ) and lower (lobule parietalis inferior) parietal lobule.

Functions

In general, the parietal lobe plays an important role in integrating sensory information. It contains the Brodmann areas 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 39, 40 and 43.

The anterior region is involved in somatosensory functions . The upper area contributes to the visual control of movements and the recognition of stimuli in the viewer-related space and thus enables spatial attention , the change from one stimulus to the other. The lower area is responsible for spatial thinking and “quasi-spatial” processes such as arithmetic and reading .

The intraparietal sulcus can be seen as a further separate functional center, which in both rhesus monkeys and humans consists of several functional areas, which act as an interface between the sensory systems (especially the visual system) and the motor system for calculation and execution and control of hand and eye movements act. The exact number of these areas and their function are currently the subject of current brain research ( brain mapping ).

Clinical significance

The parietal lobe is relevant for the following neuropsychological disorders:

• Gerstmann syndrome
• Bálint syndrome

literature

• Christine N. Smith, Larry R. Squire: Medial Temporal Lobe Activity during Retrieval of Semantic Memory Is Related to the Age of the Memory . In: Journal of Neuroscience . tape 29 , no. 4 , January 28, 2009, p. 930-938 , doi : 10.1523 / JNEUROSCI.4545-08.2009 , PMID 19176802 , PMC 2670190 (free full text). Review in the repository of memory (Wissenschaft.de, January 28, 2009)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology (1998). Terminologia Anatomica . Stuttgart: Thieme