| Brain: Inferior parietal lobule |
 |
| Lateral surface of left cerebral hemisphere, viewed from the side. (Inferior parietal lobule is in upper right.) |
 |
| Lateral surface of left cerebral hemisphere, viewed from above. (Inferior parietal lobule visible at bottom left.) |
| Latin |
lobulus parietalis inferior |
| Gray's |
subject #189 823 |
| Part of |
Parietal lobe |
| NeuroNames |
hier-89 |
The inferior parietal lobule (IPL, subparietal district or lobule) lies below the horizontal portion of the intraparietal sulcus, and behind the lower part of the postcentral sulcus. Also known as Geschwind’s territory after Norman Geschwind, an American neurologist, who in the early 1960s foresaw its importance.[1]
[edit] Subdivisions
It is divided from before backward into two gyri:
[edit] Evolution
Functional imaging experiments suggest that the left anterior supramarginal gyrus (aSMG) of the human inferior parietal lobule exhibits an evolved specialization related to tool use. It is not currently known if this functional specialization is unique to humans as complementary experiments have only been performed with macaque monkeys and not apes. The habitual use of tools by chimpanzees makes the uniqueness of the human aSMG an open question as its function may have evolved prior to the split from our last common ancestor.[2]
[edit] Differences
The IPL is known to be larger in males than in females. The left side IPL in men is larger than the right side. This asymmetry is reversed for females.[3]
[edit] Function
Inferior parietal lobule has been involved in the perception of emotions in facial stimuli,[4] and interpretation of sensory information. The Inferior parietal lobule is concerned with language, mathematical operations, and body image, particularly the supramarginal gyrus and the angular gyrus.[5]
[edit] Additional images
|
|
|
Lateral view of a human brain, main gyri labeled.
|
|
[edit] References
[edit] References
This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.
