Artery of central sulcus
Arteria sulci centralis
A cortical branch of the middle cerebral artery that climbs along the central sulcus on the lateral surface of the cerebral hemisphere.
At a glance
- English
- Artery of central sulcus
- Latin (TA2)
- Arteria sulci centralis
- System
- Artery
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the artery of central sulcus
The middle cerebral artery runs laterally in the lateral sulcus and usually divides into superior and inferior trunks, whose cortical branches emerge from the sulcus and spread over the lateral surface of the hemisphere. The artery of the central sulcus, also called the Rolandic artery, is one of these branches. It leaves the lateral sulcus near the lower end of the central sulcus and climbs within or beside that sulcus towards the upper margin of the hemisphere.
It sends branches into the walls of the sulcus and onto the neighbouring precentral and postcentral gyri. In front of it runs the artery of the precentral sulcus and behind it the artery of the postcentral sulcus. The pattern of these vessels differs between people: two of them may arise from a common stem, or one may be small and its area taken over by its neighbours. Near the top of the hemisphere its branches meet those of the anterior cerebral artery.
The precentral gyrus contains the primary motor cortex and the postcentral gyrus the primary somatosensory cortex. On the lateral surface these gyri represent the face, hand and arm, while the leg area lies on the medial surface in the territory of the anterior cerebral artery. Blockage of this artery therefore tends to cause weakness and loss of feeling in the opposite face and arm, with the leg relatively spared.
Course and supply
- Arises from
- Middle cerebral artery, from one of its trunks as it emerges from the lateral sulcus, most often the superior trunk.
- Ends in
- Branches in the walls of the central sulcus and on the adjoining precentral and postcentral gyri, ending near the upper margin of the hemisphere where they meet branches of the anterior cerebral artery.
- Supplies
- Supplies the cortex on both sides of the central sulcus: the lower and middle parts of the motor and sensory strips, representing the face, hand and arm.
Anthromica
See the artery of central sulcus where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
