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Figure one illustrates significant language areas of the brain. The arcuate fasciculus links the green area (Wernicke's) to the blue area (Broca's), disruption of this pathway results in
conduction aphasia.
The arcuate fasciculus (Latin, curved bundle) is the neural pathway connecting the posterior part of the temporoparietal junction with the frontal cortex in the brain. In the cerebral hemisphere specialised for language, this pathway is thought to connect Broca's area to Wernicke's area.
It is thought to connect areas of the brain involved in the generation and understanding of language. Damage to this pathway can cause a form of aphasia known as conduction aphasia, where auditory comprehension and speech articulation are preserved, but people find it difficult to repeat heard speech.
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Brain: telencephalon (cerebrum, cerebral cortex, cerebral hemispheres) |
primary sulci/fissures |
medial longitudinal, lateral, central, parietoöccipital, calcarine, cingulate |
frontal lobe |
precentral gyrus (primary motor cortex, 4), precentral sulcus, superior frontal gyrus (6, 8), middle frontal gyrus (46), inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's area, 44-pars opercularis, 45-pars triangularis), prefrontal cortex (orbitofrontal cortex, 9, 10, 11, 12, 47) |
parietal lobe |
postcentral sulcus, postcentral gyrus (1, 2, 3, 43), superior parietal lobule (5), inferior parietal lobule (39-angular gyrus, 40), precuneus (7), intraparietal sulcus |
occipital lobe |
primary visual cortex (17), cuneus, lingual gyrus, 18, 19 (18 and 19 span whole lobe) |
temporal lobe |
transverse temporal gyrus (41-42-primary auditory cortex), superior temporal gyrus (38, 22-Wernicke's area), middle temporal gyrus (21), inferior temporal gyrus (20), fusiform gyrus (36, 37) |
limbic lobe/fornicate gyrus |
cingulate cortex/cingulate gyrus, anterior cingulate (24, 32, 33), posterior cingulate (23, 31),
isthmus (26, 29, 30), parahippocampal gyrus (piriform cortex, 25, 27, 35), entorhinal cortex (28, 34) |
subcortical/insular cortex |
rhinencephalon, olfactory bulb, olfactory tract, corpus callosum (splenium, genu, rostrum), lateral ventricles, septum pellucidum, ependyma, internal capsule, corona radiata, external capsule, fornix (commissure of fornix), anterior commissure, posterior commissure |
hippocampal formation |
dentate gyrus, hippocampus, subiculum |
basal ganglia |
striatum (caudate nucleus, putamen), lentiform nucleus (putamen, globus pallidus), claustrum, extreme capsule, amygdala, nucleus accumbens |
Some categorizations are approximations, and some Brodmann areas span gyri. |