Brodmann's area

Lateral surface of the brain with Brodmann's areas numbered.

Medial surface of the brain with Brodmann's areas numbered.

A Brodmann area is a region in the brain cortex defined in many different species based on its cytoarchitecture. Cytoarchitecture is the organization of the cortex as observed when a tissue is stained for nerve cells.

Brodmann areas were originally defined by Korbinian Brodmann and referred to by numbers from 1 to 52. Some of the original areas have been subdivided further and referred to, e.g., as "23a" and "23b". The same number in different species does not necessarily represent structurally homologous areas.

Brodmann areas for human & non-human primates

• Areas 1, 2 & 3 - Primary Somatosensory Cortex (frequently referred to as Areas 3, 1, 2 by convention)
• Area 4 - Primary Motor Cortex
• Area 5 - Somatosensory Association Cortex
• Area 6 - Pre-Motor and Supplementary Motor Cortex (Secondary Motor Cortex)
• Area 7 - Somatosensory Association Cortex
• Area 8 - Includes Frontal eye fields
• Area 9 - Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
• Area 10 - Frontopolar area (most rostral part of superior and middle frontal gyri)
• Area 11 - Orbitofrontal area (orbital and rectus gyri, plus part of the rostral part of the superior frontal gyrus)
• Area 12 - Orbitofrontal area (used to be part of BA11, refers to the area between the superior frontal gyrus and the inferior rostral sulcus)
• Area 13 and Area 14^* - Insular cortex
• Area 15^* - Anterior Temporal Lobe
• Area 17 - Primary Visual Cortex (V1)
• Area 18 - Visual Association Cortex (V2)
• Area 19 - V3
• Area 20 - Inferior Temporal gyrus
• Area 21 - Middle Temporal gyrus
• Area 22 - Superior Temporal Gyrus, of which the rostral part participates to Wernicke's area
• Area 23 - Ventral Posterior cingulate cortex
• Area 24 - Ventral Anterior cingulate cortex
• Area 25 - Subgenual cortex
• Area 26 - Ectosplenial area
• Area 28 - Posterior Entorhinal Cortex
• Area 29 - Retrosplenial cingular cortex
• Area 30 - Part of cingular cortex
• Area 31 - Dorsal Posterior cingular cortex
• Area 32 - Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex
• Area 34 - Anterior Entorhinal Cortex (on the Parahippocampal gyrus)
• Area 35 - Perirhinal cortex (on the Parahippocampal gyrus)
• Area 36 - Parahippocampal cortex (on the Parahippocampal gyrus)
• Area 37 - Fusiform gyrus
• Area 38 - Temporopolar area (most rostral part of the superior and middle temporal gyri
• Area 39 - Angular gyrus, part of Wernicke's area
• Area 40 - Supramarginal gyrus part of Wernicke's area
• Areas 41 & 42 - Primary and Auditory Association Cortex
• Area 43 - Subcentral area (between insula and post/precentral gyrus)
• Area 44 - pars opercularis, part of Broca's area
• Area 45 - pars triangularis Broca's area
• Area 46 - Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
• Area 47 - Inferior prefrontal gyrus
• Area 48 - Retrosubicular area (a small part of the medial surface of the temporal lobe)
• Area 52 - Parainsular area (at the junction of the temporal lobe and the insula)

(*) Area only found in non-human primates.

Criticism

When von Bonin and Bailey were to construct a brain map for the macaque monkey they found the description of Brodmann inadequate and wrote:

Brodmann (1907), it is true, prepared a map of the human brain which has been widely reproduced, but, unfortunately, the data on which it was based was never published^[1]

They instead used the cytoarchitechtonic scheme of Economo and Koskinas published in 1925 which had the "only acceptable detailed description of the human cortex".

See also

• Brain
• Cortical area
• List of regions in the human brain

References

External links

• brodmann x func — Functional categorization of Brodmann areas.
• Brodmann, Mark Dubin pages on Brodmann areas.
• Brodmann areas of cortex involved in language

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