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In human brain anatomy, an operculum (Latin, meaning "little lid") (pl. opercula), may refer to the frontal, temporal, or parietal operculum, which together cover the insula as the opercula of insula. It can also refer to the occipital operculum, part of the occipital lobe.
The insular lobe is a portion of the cerebral cortex that has
Witelson's measurement
/ref> Figure 9 of Falk 2013 is a photograph of Einstein's right insula after removal of the operculum. (Falk 2013)
In human brain anatomy, an operculum (Latin, meaning "little lid") (pl. opercula), may refer to the frontal, temporal, or parietal operculum, which together cover the insula as the opercula of insula. It can also refer to the occipital operculum, part of the occipital lobe.
The insular lobe is a portion of the cerebral cortex that has invaginated
Invagination is the process of a surface folding in on itself to form a cavity, pouch or tube. In developmental biology, invagination is a mechanism that takes place during gastrulation. This mechanism or cell movement happens mostly in the vegetal ...
to lie deep within the lateral sulcus. It sits like an island (the meaning of ''insular'') almost surrounded by the groove of the circular sulcus and covered over and obscured by the insular opercula.
A part of the parietal lobe, the frontoparietal operculum, covers the upper part of the insular lobe from the front to the back. The opercula lie on the precentral and postcentral gyri (on either side of the central sulcus
In neuroanatomy, the central sulcus (also central fissure, fissure of Rolando, or Rolandic fissure, after Luigi Rolando) is a sulcus, or groove, in the cerebral cortex in the brains of vertebrates. It is sometimes confused with the longitudinal ...
).
The part of the parietal operculum that forms the ceiling of the lateral sulcus functions as the secondary somatosensory cortex.
Development
Normally, the insular opercula begin to develop between the 20th and the 22nd weeks of pregnancy. At weeks 14 to 16 of fetal development, the insula begins to invaginate from the surface of the immature cerebrum of the brain, until at full term, the opercula completely cover the insula. This process is called opercularization.Case reports
Albert Einstein's brain
Opinions differ on whetherAlbert Einstein’s brain
The brain of Albert Einstein has been a subject of much research and speculation. Albert Einstein's brain was removed within seven and a half hours of his death. His apparent regularities or irregularities in the brain have been used to support v ...
possessed parietal opercula. Falk, et al. claim that the brain actually did have parietal opercula, while Witelson et al. claim that it did not.
Einstein's lower parietal lobe (which is involved in mathematical thought, visuospatial cognition and imagery of movement) was 15% larger than average./ref> Figure 9 of Falk 2013 is a photograph of Einstein's right insula after removal of the operculum. (Falk 2013)
See also
*Sulcus lateralis
In neuroanatomy, the lateral sulcus (also called Sylvian fissure, after Franciscus Sylvius, or lateral fissure) is one of the most prominent features of the human brain. The lateral sulcus is a deep fissure in each hemisphere that separates the ...
* Circular sulcus of insula
Notes
References
* * {{Cerebral cortex Cerebrum Albert Einstein