Brodmann Areas Of The Human Brain, Posterior View

Description

Occipital and parietal cortices dominate this posterior view of the human cerebrum, annotated with Brodmann area boundaries on the cortical surface. Primary visual cortex (Brodmann area 17) is positioned around the calcarine sulcus at the occipital pole, bordered by secondary and associative visual regions (areas 18 and 19) that extend superiorly and laterally across the occipital lobe. Superior to the parieto-occipital sulcus, posterior parietal association cortex is labeled across the superior parietal lobule (including areas 5 and 7) and into the inferior parietal lobule, where regions corresponding to the angular gyrus (area 39) and supramarginal gyrus (area 40) sit lateral to the midline. Sulcal landmarks provide orientation. Brodmann mapping remains a practical shorthand for linking cytoarchitecture to function, and the posterior cortex is where that link is taught and tested most often. Infarction in the posterior cerebral artery territory can involve area 17 and produce contralateral homonymous hemianopia, while extension into areas 18 and 19 supports clinical discussions of visual agnosia, alexia without agraphia, or cortical blindness with preserved pupillary light reflexes. The posterior perspective helps when you need to correlate symptoms with lesion location across the occipital pole, medial occipital surface, and the dorsal visual stream into posterior parietal cortex, including patterns seen in neglect and Balint syndrome. Neuroanatomy and neuropsychology courses use this illustration to anchor lecture slides on the visual system and parietal association networks, and neuroradiology teaching files can pair it with axial or sagittal MRI to translate imaging findings into Brodmann nomenclature. Medical publishers can also place the image beside stroke or tumor case vignettes to clarify why deficits localize to occipital and parietal regions in a posterior distribution. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.