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Temporal lobe
 
 
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The temporal lobe is a region of the cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex is a structure within the brain that plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness....
 that is located beneath the Sylvian fissure on both the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

The temporal lobe is involved in auditory
Auditory

Auditory means of or relating to the process of hearing:* Auditory system, the neurological structures and pathways of sound perception.* Sound, the physical signal perceived by the auditory system....
 processing and is home to the primary auditory cortex
Primary auditory cortex

The primary auditory cortex is the region of the brain that is responsible for processing of auditory system information....
. It is also important for the processing of semantics
Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning in communication. The word is derived from the Greek language word s??a?t???? , "significant", from s??a??? , "to signify, to indicate" and that from s??a , "sign, mark, token"....
 in both speech and vision
Visual perception

Visual perception is the ability to interpret information from visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight or vision....
. The temporal lobe contains the hippocampus
Hippocampus

The hippocampus is a brain structure located inside the medial temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex, and therefore is part of the telencephalon ....
 and plays a key role in the formation of long-term memory
Long-term memory

Long-term memory is memory that can last as little as a few days or as long as decades . It differs structurally and functionally from working memory or short-term memory, which ostensibly stores items for only around...
.



Function
The superior temporal gyrus
Superior temporal gyrus

A gyrus is a bump or ridge on the surface of the brain. The superior temporal gyrus is one of three gyri in the temporal lobe of the human brain....
 includes an area (within the Sylvian fissure) where auditory signals from the cochlea
Cochlea

The cochlea is the auditory portion of the inner ear. Its core component is the Organ of Corti, the sensory organ of hearing , which is distributed along the partition separating fluid chambers in the coiled tapered tube of the cochlea....
 (relayed via several subcortical nuclei) first reach the cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex is a structure within the brain that plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness....
.






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Encyclopedia


The temporal lobe is a region of the cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex is a structure within the brain that plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness....
 that is located beneath the Sylvian fissure on both the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

The temporal lobe is involved in auditory
Auditory

Auditory means of or relating to the process of hearing:* Auditory system, the neurological structures and pathways of sound perception.* Sound, the physical signal perceived by the auditory system....
 processing and is home to the primary auditory cortex
Primary auditory cortex

The primary auditory cortex is the region of the brain that is responsible for processing of auditory system information....
. It is also important for the processing of semantics
Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning in communication. The word is derived from the Greek language word s??a?t???? , "significant", from s??a??? , "to signify, to indicate" and that from s??a , "sign, mark, token"....
 in both speech and vision
Visual perception

Visual perception is the ability to interpret information from visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight or vision....
. The temporal lobe contains the hippocampus
Hippocampus

The hippocampus is a brain structure located inside the medial temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex, and therefore is part of the telencephalon ....
 and plays a key role in the formation of long-term memory
Long-term memory

Long-term memory is memory that can last as little as a few days or as long as decades . It differs structurally and functionally from working memory or short-term memory, which ostensibly stores items for only around...
.



Function


The superior temporal gyrus
Superior temporal gyrus

A gyrus is a bump or ridge on the surface of the brain. The superior temporal gyrus is one of three gyri in the temporal lobe of the human brain....
 includes an area (within the Sylvian fissure) where auditory signals from the cochlea
Cochlea

The cochlea is the auditory portion of the inner ear. Its core component is the Organ of Corti, the sensory organ of hearing , which is distributed along the partition separating fluid chambers in the coiled tapered tube of the cochlea....
 (relayed via several subcortical nuclei) first reach the cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex is a structure within the brain that plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness....
. This part of the cortex (primary auditory cortex
Primary auditory cortex

The primary auditory cortex is the region of the brain that is responsible for processing of auditory system information....
) is involved in hearing. Adjacent areas in the superior, posterior and lateral parts of the temporal lobes are involved in high-level auditory processing. In humans this includes speech, for which the left temporal lobe in particular seems to be specialized. Wernicke's area
Wernicke's area

Wernicke's area is a part of the human brain that forms part of the Cerebral cortex , on the posterior section of the superior temporal gyrus, encircling the auditory cortex, on the Sylvian fissure ....
, which spans the region between temporal and parietal lobes, plays a key role (in tandem with Broca's area
Broca's area

Broca's area is a region of the brain responsible for speech production.The importance of Broca?s area in producing language has been recognized since Paul Pierre Broca reported impairments in two patients he encountered....
, which is in the frontal lobe). The functions of the left temporal lobe are not limited to low-level perception but extend to comprehension, naming, verbal memory and other language functions. Sound processing is controlled by the temporal lobes- in the Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area.

The underside (ventral) part of the temporal cortices appear to be involved in high-level visual processing of complex stimuli such as faces
Face perception

Face perception is the process by which the brain and mind understand and interpret the face, particularly the human face.The face is an important site for the identification of others and conveys significant social information....
 (fusiform gyrus
Fusiform gyrus

The fusiform gyrus is part of the temporal lobe. It is also known as the occipitotemporal gyrus. Other sources have the fusiform gyrus above the occipitotemporal gyrus and underneath the parahippocampal gyrus....
) and scenes (parahippocampal gyrus
Parahippocampal gyrus

The parahippocampal gyrus is a grey matter cerebral cortex region of the brain that surrounds the hippocampus. This region plays an important role in memory Encoding and retrieval....
). Anterior parts of this ventral stream
Ventral stream

The primary visual system consists of numerous diverse areas of the cerebral cortex called the visual cortex. The visual cortex is divided into the ventral stream and the dorsal stream....
 for visual processing
Visual processing

Visual processing is the sequence of steps that information takes as it flows from visual sensors to cognitive processing. The sensors may be zoological eyes or they may be cameras or sensor arrays that sense various portions of the electromagnetic spectrum....
 are involved in object perception and recognition.

The medial temporal lobes (near the Sagittal plane that divides left and right cerebral hemisphere
Cerebral hemisphere

A cerebral hemisphere is defined as one of the two regions of the brain that are delineated by the body's Anatomical_position#Median_and_sagittal_plane, ....
s) are thought to be involved in episodic
Episodic memory

Episodic memory is the memory of autobiographical events that can be explicitly stated. Semantic memory and episodic memory together make up the category of declarative memory, which is one of the two major divisions in memory....
/declarative memory
Declarative memory

Declarative memory is the aspect of human memory that stores facts. It is so called because it refers to memories that can be consciously discussed, or declared. It applies to standard textbook learning and knowledge, as well as memories that can be 'travelled back to' in one's 'mind's eye'....
. Deep inside the medial temporal lobes, the hippocampi
Hippocampus

The hippocampus is a brain structure located inside the medial temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex, and therefore is part of the telencephalon ....
 seem to be particularly important for memory function - particularly transference from short to long term memory and control of spatial memory and behavior.

Additional images



See also


  • Lobe (anatomy)
    Lobe (anatomy)

    In anatomy, a lobe is a clear anatomical division or extension that can be determined without the use of a microscope This is in contrast to a lobule, which is a clear division only visible histology....
  • Temporal lobe epilepsy
    Temporal lobe epilepsy

    Temporal lobe epilepsy is a form of Focal seizures epilepsy, a chronic neurology condition characterized by recurrent seizures. While focal epilepsy accounts for about 50% of all epilepsy cases, the prevalence of temporal lobe epilepsy among these cases remains uncertain....


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