Anatomy

Medial Surface of the Parietal Lobe

• This surface of the parietal lobe contains a portion of the cingulate gyrus and the medial extension of the postcentral gyrus.
• It is completed by an area called the precuneus.
• This is bounded by the cingulate gyrus, the parietooccipital sulcus, and the marginal branch of the cingulate sulcus.
• The extensions of the precentral and postcentral gyri onto the medial surface of the hemisphere are referred to together as the paracentral lobule.
• This is partly in the frontal and parietal lobes.

General Functional Areas of the Parietal Lobe

• The parietal lobe is associated with 3 functions:

1. The postcentral gyrus more or less coincides with primary somatosensory cortex; it is concerned with the initial cortical processing of tactile and proprioceptive
2. The inferior parietal lobule of the left hemisphere, together with portions of the temporal lobe, is involved in the comprehension of language.
3. The remainder of the parietal cortex subserves complex aspects of spatial orientation and perception.