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Gray's Fig. 727 - Medial surface of left cerebral hemisphere. (Fusiform gyrus visible near bottom)
The Fusiform gyrus is part of the temporal lobe. It is also known as the (discontinuous) occipitotemporal gyrus.
There is still some dispute over the functionalities of this area, but there's relative consensus on these four:
- processing of colour information
- face and body recognition (see Fusiform face area)
- word recognition
- number recognition
Some researchers believe that the fusiform gyrus may be related to the disorder known as prosopagnosia, or face blindness.
[edit] External links
[edit] BBC lectures
In these lectures held for the BBC by neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran as part of the REITH-lecture series, - the lecturer frequently mentions the functionality of the FUSIFORM GYRUS:
- Phantoms in the BRAIN ,
- Synapses and the Self,
- The Artful BRAIN ,
- Purple numbers and sharp cheese,
- Neuroscience the new philosophy,
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. |