Cingulate gyrus and sulcus (Middle posterior part)
The rear half of the middle stretch of the cingulate gyrus and sulcus, lying over the back of the callosal trunk on the medial hemisphere.
At a glance
- English
- Cingulate gyrus and sulcus (Middle posterior part)
- System
- Brain and spinal cord
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the cingulate gyrus and sulcus (middle posterior part)
On the inner face of each cerebral hemisphere the cingulate gyrus forms an arch above the corpus callosum. Its upper border is the cingulate sulcus, a groove that divides the gyrus from the frontal and parietal lobes. Brain atlases split the gyrus and this sulcus into front, middle and back segments; the middle part is further divided into an anterior and a posterior half. The middle posterior segment shown here lies above the rear part of the callosal trunk, ahead of the region that bends down behind the splenium.
Its territory matches the posterior midcingulate cortex. Above it sits the paracentral lobule, the medial continuation of the precentral and postcentral gyri, which the cingulate sulcus marks off below. Near this level the sulcus gives off the short paracentral sulcus in front of the lobule and then turns upward as its marginal branch, which reaches the superior border of the hemisphere just behind the top of the central sulcus. Behind this point the arch continues as the posterior cingulate cortex and the precuneus.
Like the rest of the cingulate cortex the segment belongs to the limbic lobe and receives fibres from the thalamus and the neocortex. Its position next to the paracentral lobule fits a strong tie with movement: it holds part of the cingulate motor zone and is active when attention is turned to the body and when the body moves through space. It also takes part in judging the orientation of the body and in the response to painful stimuli.
The marginal branch of the cingulate sulcus is a dependable landmark on midline images. Following the cingulate sulcus back to the point where it turns up allows the central sulcus to be found on the medial surface, just in front of it.
Function and supply
- Function
- Contributes to orienting the body in space and to the selection of movements, with ties to the paracentral lobule and the cingulate motor zone.
- Blood supply
- Pericallosal and callosomarginal branches of the anterior cerebral artery, including its paracentral branch.
Anthromica
See the cingulate gyrus and sulcus (middle posterior part) 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.
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