Brodmann Areas: Visual Cortex and Processing

Visual Cortex

• Brodmann area 17: Primary Visual Cortex (V1) interprets and processes visual information from the eyes.
• Brodmann area 18: Secondary Visual Cortex (V2) receives visual information for further analysis.
• Brodmann area 19: Associative Visual Cortex (V3, V4 & V5) processes complex visual information.

Temporal Gyrus

• Brodmann area 20: Inferior Temporal Gyrus processes visual information in the field of vision and is involved with memory.
• Brodmann area 21: Middle Temporal Gyrus processes semantic memory, visual perception, and language.
• Brodmann area 22: Superior Temporal Gyrus (including Wernicke’s Area) is important for processing sounds and speech comprehension.

Cingulate Gyrus

• Brodmann area 23, 24, 28 to 33: Cingulate Gyrus is part of the limbic system, involved in processing emotions and behavior regulation.
• Brodmann area 25: Subgenual Area is a limbic area rich in serotonin transporters, working with other limbic areas.
• Brodmann area 29: Retrosplenial cingulate cortex is related to episodic memory and navigation.
• Brodmann area 30: Part of the cingulate cortex is an interface between emotional regulation, sensing, and action.
• Brodmann area 31: Dorsal posterior cingulate cortex is a central node of the default mode network (DMN).
• Brodmann area 32: Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex processes the detection and appraisal of social processes.

Other Areas

• Brodmann area 34: Dorsal Entorhinal Cortex is involved in working memory.
• Brodmann area 35 & 36: Dorsal entorhinal cortex and Perirhinal cortex are involved in working memory.
• Brodmann area 37: Fusiform gyrus is involved in higher-level visual processing.
• Brodmann area 38: Temporal pole is a high-level visual area involved in visual cognition, face recognition, and visual memory.
• Brodmann area 39: Angular gyrus is related to language and number processing, spatial cognition, memory retrieval, and attention.
• Brodmann area 40: Supramarginal gyrus is involved in phonological processing and emotional responses.
• Brodmann area 41 & 42: Primary auditory cortex (Heschl gyrus) is the first relay station of auditory information in the cortex.
• Brodmann area 43: Primary gustatory cortex is responsible for the perception of taste.
• Brodmann area 44 & 45: Part of Broca area (pars opercularis and pars triangularis, part of the inferior frontal gyrus) is associated with speech production and articulation.
• Brodmann area 46: Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex is involved in cognitive functions such as working memory, attention, and executive function.
• Brodmann area 47: Pars orbitalis, part of the inferior frontal gyrus, is involved in language processing.
• Brodmann area 48: Retrosubicular area is involved in processing emotions, encoding, and navigation.
• Brodmann area 52: Parainsular area is related to attention and salience processing.

Associated Disorders

• Uninhibited bladder and bowel control: Area 4 with possible connection with area 6.
• Visual agnosia: Difficulty recognizing or identifying objects or faces despite intact vision, related to areas 18 and 19.
• Wernicke’s aphasia: Type of fluent aphasia characterized by impaired comprehension of language and fluent but nonsensical speech, related to area 22.