This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Cuneus is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Brain: Cuneus | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Medial surface of left cerebral hemisphere. (Cuneus visible at left.) | ||
 |
||
| Medial view of a halved human brain | ||
| Artery | posterior cerebral artery | |
| NeuroNames | hier-139 | |
- Cuneus (Latin for "wedge"; plural, cunei) is also the architectural term applied to the wedge-shaped divisions of the Roman theatre separated by the scalae or stairways; see Vitruvius v. 4.
The cuneus is a portion of the human brain in the occipital lobe.
The cuneus (Brodmann area 17) receives visual information from the contralateral superior retina representing the inferior visual field. It is most known for its involvement in basic visual processing. Pyramidal cells in the cuneus (striate cortex) project to extrastriate corticies (BA 18,19). The mid-level visual processing that occurs in the extrastriate projection fields of the cuneus are modulated by extraretinal effects, like attention, working memory, and reward expectation.
In addition to its traditional role as a site for basic visual processing, gray matter volume in the cuneus is associated with better inhibitory control in bipolar depression patients (Haldane et al, J Neuropsychopharmacology, 2008). Pathologic gamblers have higher activity in the dorsal visual processing stream including the cuneus relative to controls (Crockford et al Biological Psychiatry 2005). Furthermore, the cuneus may apparently be involved in "the control of human urinary functions as well as in dogs."
External links
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
 |
This neuroanatomy article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This architectural element-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 1 October 2008, at 18:03.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Cuneus".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.