The parietal-temporal-occipital (PTO) association area is located in the

cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. The cerebral cortex mostly consists of the six-layered neocortex, with just 10% consisting of ...

which is bounded by the anterior somatic association area and posterior visual cortex of 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 ...

. As its name implies, the PTO includes portions of the parietal, temporal and

occipital lobe The occipital lobe is one of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex in the brain of mammals. The name derives from its position at the back of the head, from the Latin ''ob'', "behind", and ''caput'', "head". The occipital lobe is the vi ...

s. High level of interpreting meaningful signals in the surrounding sensory area. They have functional subareas: * Analysis of the spatial coordinates of the body * Posterior occipital cortex * Anterior parietal cortex This association area—one of three in the cortex—is responsible for the assembly of auditory,

visual The visual system comprises the sensory organ (the eye) and parts of the central nervous system (the retina containing photoreceptor cells, the optic nerve, the optic tract and the visual cortex) which gives organisms the sense of sight (the ...

, and

somatosensory system In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch (haptic perception), as well as temperature (thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It ...

information. Meaning is assigned to stimuli in the PTO, which outputs to numerous other areas of the

brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...

, notably the

limbic The limbic system, also known as the paleomammalian cortex, is a set of brain structures located on both sides of the thalamus, immediately beneath the medial temporal lobe of the cerebrum primarily in the forebrain.Schacter, Daniel L. 2012. ''Ps ...

and prefrontal association areas, which are involved in

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

Analysis of spatial coordinates of the body

This is an area beginning with the posterior parietal cortex and extending to the superior occipital cortex. A function of the Perietal-Temporal-Occipital is the analysis the spatial coordination of body parts. This area receives visual sensory information from the periphery occipital cortex and somatic sensory information from the anterior parietal cortex. From this, the information coordinates and computes the visual auditory information from the body surroundings. In the left hemisphere, the PTO is involved in

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

recognition (

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, listening, and

braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

), but is not entirely responsible for these tasks. Language in all its modalities is covered using many different parts of the brain including Heschl's gyrus in the left hemisphere. In the right, the PTO identifiescgg Cerebrum Neuroanatomy {{neuroanatomy-stub