Brodmann area 39, or BA39, is part of the parietal

cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

in the

human brain The human brain is the central organ of the human nervous system, and with the spinal cord makes up the central nervous system. The brain consists of the cerebrum, the brainstem and the cerebellum. It controls most of the activities of the ...

. BA39 encompasses the

angular gyrus The angular gyrus is a region of the brain lying mainly in the posteroinferior region of the parietal lobe, occupying the posterior part of the inferior parietal lobule. It represents the Brodmann area 39. Its significance is in transferring vis ...

, lying near to the junction of temporal,

occipital The occipital bone () is a cranial dermal bone and the main bone of the occiput (back and lower part of the skull). It is trapezoidal in shape and curved on itself like a shallow dish. The occipital bone overlies the occipital lobes of the cereb ...

and

parietal lobe The parietal lobe is one of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex in the brain of mammals. The parietal lobe is positioned above the temporal lobe and behind the frontal lobe and central sulcus. The parietal lobe integrates sensory informa ...

s. This area is also known as angular area 39 (H). It corresponds to the

surrounding the caudal tip of the

superior temporal sulcus The superior temporal sulcus (STS) is the sulcus separating the superior temporal gyrus from the middle temporal gyrus in the temporal lobe of the brain. A sulcus (plural sulci) is a deep groove that curves into the largest part of the brain, t ...

. It is bounded dorsally approximately by the

intraparietal sulcus The intraparietal sulcus (IPS) is located on the lateral surface of the parietal lobe, and consists of an oblique and a horizontal portion. The IPS contains a series of functionally distinct subregions that have been intensively investigated usin ...

. In terms of its

cytoarchitecture Cytoarchitecture (Greek '' κύτος''= "cell" + '' ἀρχιτεκτονική''= "architecture"), also known as cytoarchitectonics, is the study of the cellular composition of the central nervous system's tissues under the microscope. Cytoarchi ...

, it is bounded rostrally by the supramarginal area 40 (H), dorsally and caudally by the peristriate area 19, and ventrally by the occipitotemporal area 37 (H) (Brodmann-1909).

Function

Area 39 was regarded by

Alexander Luria Alexander Romanovich Luria (russian: Алекса́ндр Рома́нович Лу́рия, p=ˈlurʲɪjə; 16 July 1902 – 14 August 1977) was a Soviet neuropsychologist, often credited as a father of modern neuropsychology. He develope ...

as a part of the

parietal-temporal-occipital The parietal-temporal-occipital (PTO) association area is located in the cerebral cortex which is bounded by the anterior somatic association area and posterior visual cortex of the human brain. As its name implies, the PTO includes portions of t ...

area, which includes

Brodmann area 40 Brodmann area 40 (BA40) is part of the parietal cortex in the human brain. The inferior part of BA40 is in the area of the supramarginal gyrus, which lies at the posterior end of the lateral fissure, in the inferior lateral part of the parieta ...

Brodmann area 19 Brodmann area 19, or BA 19, is part of the occipital lobe cortex in the human brain. Along with area 18, it comprises the extrastriate (or peristriate) cortex. In humans with normal sight, extrastriate cortex is a visual association area, with fea ...

, and

Brodmann area 37 Brodmann area 37, or BA37, is part of the temporal cortex in the human brain. It contains the fusiform gyrus which in turn contains the fusiform face area, an area important for the recognition of faces. This area is also known as occipitotempor ...

. Damage to the left Brodmann area 39 may result in dyslexia or in semantic

aphasia Aphasia is an inability to comprehend or formulate language because of damage to specific brain regions. The major causes are stroke and head trauma; prevalence is hard to determine but aphasia due to stroke is estimated to be 0.1–0.4% in th ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

had less neurones (relative to

glial cells Glia, also called glial cells (gliocytes) or neuroglia, are non-neuronal cells in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system that do not produce electrical impulses. They maintain homeostasis, form mye ...

) in this (left sided) area than normal. The right Brodmann area 39 appears to play a role in body image because electrical stimulation of the right angular gyrus induces an 'out-of-body' experience.

References

39 Parietal lobe {{neuroanatomy-stub

Function

See also

References