TEMPORAL LOBES
Location
• The temporal lobes comprise of all the tissues that lies below the sylvian fissure.
• Anterior to the occipital cortex.
Anatomy: subdivisions and connections
Subcortical temporal lobe structures include; the amygdala, the hippocampus and the limbic
cortex.
While temporal regions on the lateral cortex can be divided into those that are auditory and
those that form the central visual stream.
The central visual stream is referred to as the inferotemporal cortex
Sulci of the temporal lobes contain a lot of folded cortex.
The sylvian fissure contains tissue forming the insula which includes the gustatory and audio
association cortices.
The superior temporal sulcus contains a significant amount of neocortex and receives input
from auditory, visual and semantic regions.
The medial temporal region / limbic cortex includes the amygdala, hippocampus and fusiform
gyrus.
Connections: The neocortex of the temporal lobes – corpus collosum; The medial temporal
cortex and amygdala = anterior commissure
Types of temporal cortical connections:
1. Frontal lobe projection – from temporal association areas to frontal lobe.
2. Hierarchical sensory pathway – emanates from primary to secondary auditory and
visual areas, ending at temporal pole.
3. Medial temporal projection – from v+a association areas to medial temporal, ending in
hippocampus and amygdala.
4. Dorsal auditory pathway – from auditory areas to posterior parietal cortex.
5. Polymodal pathway – parallel projections from v+a association areas to polymodal
regions of the STS.
Function
1.The temporal lobes do not have one unitary function. Multifunctional temporal lobe houses
the primary auditory cortex, the secondary auditory and visual cortex, limbic cortex, amygdala
and hippocampus.
• Auditory cortex of temporal lobes plays a role in discriminating 2 forms of auditory
processing:
• rapidly presented stimuli
• complex patterns of stimuli
The main functions of the temporal lobes are (6):
• Hearing and language (auditory)
• Selective attention (auditory and visual)
• Memory (hippocampus)
• Vision (visual cortex)
• Affect and personality (amygdala)
• Integration
Categorizing makes it possible to comprehend complex, extended sentences, including both
the meaning of individual clauses and the information inferred from them.
Location
• The temporal lobes comprise of all the tissues that lies below the sylvian fissure.
• Anterior to the occipital cortex.
Anatomy: subdivisions and connections
Subcortical temporal lobe structures include; the amygdala, the hippocampus and the limbic
cortex.
While temporal regions on the lateral cortex can be divided into those that are auditory and
those that form the central visual stream.
The central visual stream is referred to as the inferotemporal cortex
Sulci of the temporal lobes contain a lot of folded cortex.
The sylvian fissure contains tissue forming the insula which includes the gustatory and audio
association cortices.
The superior temporal sulcus contains a significant amount of neocortex and receives input
from auditory, visual and semantic regions.
The medial temporal region / limbic cortex includes the amygdala, hippocampus and fusiform
gyrus.
Connections: The neocortex of the temporal lobes – corpus collosum; The medial temporal
cortex and amygdala = anterior commissure
Types of temporal cortical connections:
1. Frontal lobe projection – from temporal association areas to frontal lobe.
2. Hierarchical sensory pathway – emanates from primary to secondary auditory and
visual areas, ending at temporal pole.
3. Medial temporal projection – from v+a association areas to medial temporal, ending in
hippocampus and amygdala.
4. Dorsal auditory pathway – from auditory areas to posterior parietal cortex.
5. Polymodal pathway – parallel projections from v+a association areas to polymodal
regions of the STS.
Function
1.The temporal lobes do not have one unitary function. Multifunctional temporal lobe houses
the primary auditory cortex, the secondary auditory and visual cortex, limbic cortex, amygdala
and hippocampus.
• Auditory cortex of temporal lobes plays a role in discriminating 2 forms of auditory
processing:
• rapidly presented stimuli
• complex patterns of stimuli
The main functions of the temporal lobes are (6):
• Hearing and language (auditory)
• Selective attention (auditory and visual)
• Memory (hippocampus)
• Vision (visual cortex)
• Affect and personality (amygdala)
• Integration
Categorizing makes it possible to comprehend complex, extended sentences, including both
the meaning of individual clauses and the information inferred from them.
