Transverse occipital sulcus
Sulcus occipitalis transversus
A short groove crossing the upper part of the lateral occipital lobe, continuing back from the end of the intraparietal sulcus.
At a glance
- English
- Transverse occipital sulcus
- Latin (TA2)
- Sulcus occipitalis transversus
- System
- Brain and spinal cord
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the transverse occipital sulcus
This small furrow lies on the outer, convex surface of the occipital lobe. It runs more or less across the lobe, at right angles to the long axis of the hemisphere, in its upper part. It lies a little behind the point where the parieto-occipital sulcus notches the upper border of the hemisphere, and so it sits close to the boundary between the parietal and occipital lobes.
Its main relation is the intraparietal sulcus. That long groove runs back across the parietal lobe and its rear part, the occipital ramus, turns down into the occipital lobe and meets the transverse occipital sulcus, usually near its middle. The two together often form a T or a cross, which makes the transverse occipital sulcus a useful landmark for following the end of the intraparietal sulcus on a brain specimen or MRI. Below and behind it lie the lateral occipital gyri and the lateral occipital sulcus; in front of it lies the parieto-occipital arcus, a curved gyrus that links the parietal lobe to the occipital lobe.
Like most minor sulci of the occipital lobe, it varies a great deal between people and between the two hemispheres. It may be short or long, single or broken into pieces, and in some brains it is hard to separate from the intraparietal sulcus.
The sulcus is not itself a functional area, but the cortex around it is part of the dorsal visual stream, which deals with where things are and how to reach them. Functional imaging places scene-selective cortex near the junction of the intraparietal and transverse occipital sulci, an area sometimes called the occipital place area. Damage in this region, often from a stroke at the junction of the middle and posterior cerebral artery territories, can disturb visual guidance of movement and spatial awareness rather than causing a simple loss of sight.
Function and supply
- Function
- A surface landmark of the upper lateral occipital lobe; the nearby cortex belongs to the dorsal visual stream and includes scene-selective areas.
- Blood supply
- Lies in the border zone between the middle cerebral and posterior cerebral arteries, supplied by branches of both.
Anthromica
See the transverse occipital 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.
