The precentral sulcus is a part 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 ...

that lies parallel to, and in front 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 ...

. (A ''sulcus'' is one of the prominent grooves on the surface of the human

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 ...

.) The precentral sulcus divides the inferior, middle and

superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places *Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lake ...

frontal gyri from the

precentral gyrus The precentral gyrus is a prominent gyrus on the surface of the posterior frontal lobe of the brain. It is the site of the primary motor cortex that in humans is cytoarchitecturally defined as Brodmann area 4. Structure The precentral gyrus l ...

. In most

brains 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 ...

, the precentral sulcus is divided into two parts: the inferior precentral sulcus and the superior precentral sulcus. However, the precentral sulcus may sometimes be divided into three parts or form one continuous sulcus.

Additional images

File:Precentral sulcus animation small.gif, Position of precentral sulcus (shown in red). File:FrontalCaptsLateral.png, Lateral surface of right

frontal lobe The frontal lobe is the largest of the four major lobes of the brain in mammals, and is located at the front of each cerebral hemisphere (in front of the parietal lobe and the temporal lobe). It is parted from the parietal lobe by a groove betwe ...

. Precentral sulcus is labeled by * and **. File:Cerebral Hemisphere Demonstration - Sanjoy Sanyal - Neuroscience Lab Fall 2013 (cropped 4m51s to 5m20s) - Precentral sulcus.webm, Human brain dissection video (29 sec). Demonstrating location of the precentral sulcus. {{DEFAULTSORT:Precentral Sulcus Cerebrum Sulci (neuroanatomy) Articles containing video clips Frontal lobe