Postcentral gyrus

In neuroanatomy, the postcentral gyrus is a prominent gyrus in the lateral parietal lobe of the human brain. It is the location of the primary somatosensory cortex, the main sensory receptive area for the sense of touch. Like other sensory areas, there is a map of sensory space in this location, called the sensory homunculus.

Postcentral gyrus
Postcentral gyrus of the human brain
Brodmann areas 3, 1, and 2 of human brain. Brodmann area 3 is in red, area 1 in green, and area 2 in yellow.
Details
System	Somatosensory system
Location	Parietal lobe
Artery	Middle cerebral artery
Function	Primary somatosensory cortex
Identifiers
Latin	gyrus postcentralis
NeuroNames	105
NeuroLex ID	birnlex_1070
TA98	A14.1.09.128
TA2	5469
FMA	61896
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy [edit on Wikidata]

The primary somatosensory cortex was initially defined from surface stimulation studies of Wilder Penfield, and parallel surface potential studies of Bard, Woolsey, and Marshall. Although initially defined to be roughly the same as Brodmann areas 3, 1, and 2, more recent work by Kaas has suggested that for homogeny with other sensory fields only area 3 should be referred to as "primary somatosensory cortex", as it receives the bulk of the thalamocortical projections from the sensory input fields^{[citation needed]}.

Structure

The lateral postcentral gyrus is bounded by:

• medial longitudinal fissure medially (to the middle)
• central sulcus rostrally (in front)
• postcentral sulcus caudally (in back)
• lateral sulcus inferiorly (underneath)

The postcentral gyrus includes Brodmann areas 1, 2, and 3. Brodmann area 1 occupies the apex of the postcentral gyrus.

See also

• List of regions in the human brain

Additional images

• 
  Postcentral gyrus (animation)
• 
  Lateral surface of left cerebral hemisphere, viewed from the side.
• 
  Primary cortices, including primary somatosensory cortex (labeled in purple)
• 
  Postcentral gyrus, showed on the right hemisphere.
• 
  Postcentral gyrus highlighted in green on coronal T1 MRI images
• 
  Postcentral gyrus highlighted in green on sagittal T1 MRI images
• 
  Postcentral gyrus highlighted in green on transversal T1 MRI images

External links

• ancil-1040 at NeuroNames - area 1
• ancil-1041 at NeuroNames - area 2
• ancil-1042 at NeuroNames - area 3