Temporal lobe
| Brain: Temporal lobe | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lobes of the human brain | ||
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| Section of brain showing upper surface of temporal lobe. | ||
| Latin | Lobus temporalis | |
| Gray's | subject #189 823 | |
| Part of | Brain | |
| Artery | Middle cerebral artery[1]:16 Posterior cerebral artery[1]:26 |
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| Vein | Superficial middle cerebral vein[1]:16 Inferior anastomotic vein[2] |
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| NeuroNames | hier-107 | |
| MeSH | Temporal+Lobe | |
| NeuroLex ID | birnlex_1160 | |
The temporal lobe is a region of the cerebral cortex that is located beneath the lateral fissure on both cerebral hemispheres of the mammalian brain.[3]
The temporal lobes are involved in the retention of visual memories, processing sensory input, comprehending language, storing new memories, emotion, and deriving meaning.[4]:21
Contents |
Functions [edit]
Visual memories [edit]
The temporal lobe contains the hippocampus and plays a key role in the formation of explicit long-term memory modulated by the amygdala.[4]:349
Processing sensory input [edit]
- Auditory
- Adjacent areas in the superior, posterior, and lateral parts of the temporal lobes are involved in high-level auditory processing.[citation needed] The temporal lobe is involved in primary auditory perception, such as hearing, and holds the primary auditory cortex.[5] The primary auditory cortex receives sensory information from the ears and secondary areas process the information into meaningful units such as speech and words. [5] The superior temporal gyrus includes an area (within the lateral fissure) where auditory signals from the cochlea first reach the cerebral cortex and are processed by the primary auditory cortex in the left temporal lobe.[citation needed]
- Visual
- The areas associated with vision in the temporal lobe interpret the meaning of visual stimuli and establish object recognition.[citation needed] The ventral part of the temporal cortices appear to be involved in high-level visual processing of complex stimuli such as faces (fusiform gyrus) and scenes (parahippocampal gyrus).[citation needed] Anterior parts of this ventral stream for visual processing are involved in object perception and recognition.[5]
Language comprehension [edit]
The left temporal lobe holds the primary auditory cortex, which is important for the processing of semantics in both speech and vision in humans.[citation needed] Wernicke's area, which spans the region between temporal and parietal lobes, plays a key role (in tandem with Broca's area in the frontal lobe) in speech comprehension.[citation needed] The functions of the left temporal lobe are not limited to low-level perception but extend to comprehension, naming, verbal memory.[citation needed]
New memories [edit]
The medial temporal lobes (near the sagittal plane) are thought to be involved in encoding declarative long term memory.[4]:194–199 The medial temporal lobes include the hippocampi, which are essential for memory storage, therefore damage to this area can result in impairment in new memory formation leading to permanent or temporary anterograde amnesia.[4]:194–199
Medial temporal lobe [edit]
The medial temporal lobe consists of structures that are vital for declarative or long-term memory. Declarative (denotative) or explicit memory is conscious memory divided into semantic memory (facts) and episodic memory (events).[4]:194 Medial temporal lobe structures that are critical for long-term memory include the amygdala, brainstem, and hippocampus, along with the surrounding hippocampal region consisting of the perirhinal, parahippocampal, and entorhinal neocortical regions.[4]:196 The hippocampus is critical for memory formation, and the surrounding medial temporal cortex is currently theorized to be critical for memory storage.[4]:21 The prefrontal and visual cortices are also involved in explicit memory.[4]:21
Research has shown that lesions in the hippocampus of monkeys results in limited impairment of function, whereas extensive lesions that include the hippocampus and the medial temporal cortex result in severe impairment.[6]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c Starr, Philip A.; Barbaro, Nicholas M.; Larson, Paul S. (30 November 2008). Neurosurgical Operative Atlas: Functional Neurosurgery. Thieme. pp. 16, 26. ISBN 9781588903990.
- ^ Sekhar, Laligam N.; de Oliveira, Evandro (1999). Cranial Microsurgery: Approaches and Techniques. Thieme. p. 432. ISBN 9780865776982.
- ^ "Temporal Lobe". Langbrain. Rice University. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Smith; Kosslyn (2007). Cognitive Psychology: Mind and Brain. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp. 21, 194–199, 349.
- ^ a b c Schacter, Daniel L.; Gilbert, Daniel T.; Wegner, Daniel M. (2010). Psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. ISBN 9781429237192.[page needed]
- ^ Squire, LR; Stark, CE; Clark, RE (2004). "The medial temporal lobe". Annual Review of Neuroscience 27: 279–306. doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144130. PMID 15217334.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Temporal lobe |
- The medial temporal lobe memory system
- H. M.’s Medial Temporal Lobe Lesion: Findings from Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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