Parietal lobe
Lobus parietalis
NervousOrgansHeadLeft and right
View left in 3D View right in 3D
- What it is
- Lies behind the central sulcus and above the lateral fissure, reaching back to the parieto-occipital sulcus under the parietal bone.
- Function
- Receives touch, pain, temperature and limb position (primary somatosensory cortex in the postcentral gyrus) and builds the spatial map used for reaching, attention and reading.
- Size
- About 5-6 cm front to back at the vertex
- Clinical note
- Right parietal strokes often cause hemispatial neglect: the patient ignores the left side of space, e.g. eats only from the right half of the plate.