14 Major Sulci
Main sulci are formed early in development
Fissures = really deep sulci
Typically Continuous Sulci
- Interhemispheric fissure
 - Sylvian fissure
 - Parietal-occipital fissure
 - Calcarine sulcus
 - Collateral sulcus
 - Central sulcus
 
Typically Discontinuous Sulci
- Cingulate sulcus
 - Precentral sulcus
 - Postcentral sulcus
 - Intraparietal sulcus
 - Superior temporal sulcus
 - Inferior temporal sulcus
 - Superior frontal sulcus
 - Inferior frontal sulcus
 
Other minor sulci are much less reliable
(Image from Ono, Atlas of the Cerebral Sulci, p.7)
Interhemispheric Fissure
- Hugely deep
 - Divides brain into 2 hemispheres
 
Sylvian Fissure
- Hugely deep
 - Mostly horizontal
 - Insula (purple) is buried within it
 - Separates temporal lobe from parietal and frontal lobe
 
Parietal-occipital Fissure and Calcarine Sulcus
Parietal-occipital Fissure (red):
- Very deep
 - Often Y-shaped from sagittal view
 - X-shaped in horizontal and coronal views
 
Cuneus (pink):
- Visual areas on medial side above
 - Calcarine (lower visual field)
 
Calcarine Sulcus (blue):
- Contains V1
 
Lingual gyrus (yellow):
- Visual areas on medial side below calcarine and above collateral sulcus (upper visual field)
 
Collateral Sulcus
- Divides lingual (yellow) and parahippocampal (green) gyri from fusiform gyrus (pink)
 
Cingulate Sulcus
- Divides the cingulate gyrus (turquoise) from precuneus (purple) and paracentral lobule (gold)
 
Central, Postcentral, and Precentral Sulci
Central Sulcus (red):
- Usually freestanding (no intersections)
 - Just anterior to ascending cingulate
 
Precentral Sulcus (green):
- Often in two parts (superior and inferior)
 - Intersects with superior frontal sulcus (T-junction)
 - Marks the anterior end of precentral gyrus (motor strip, yellow)
 
Postcentral Sulcus (blue):
- Often in two parts (superior and anterior)
 - Often intersects with intraparietal sulcus
 - Marks posterior end of postcentral gyrus (somatosensory strip, purple)
 
Intraparietal Sulcus
- Anterior end usually intersects with inferior postcentral (some texts call inferior postcentral the ascending intraparietal sulcus)
 - Posterior end usually forms a T-junction with the transverse occipital sulcus (just posterior to the parieto-occipital fissure)
 - IPS divides the superior parietal lobule from the inferior parietal lobule (angular gyrus, gold, and supramarginal gyrus, lime)
 
Slice Views
- Central sulcus = red
 - Precentral sulcus = green
 - Transverse-occipital = purple
 - Postcentral sulcus = blue
 - Intraparietal sulcus = yellow
 
Superior and Inferior Temporal Sulci
Superior Temporal Sulcus (red)
- Divides the superior temporal gyrus (peach) from middle temporal gyrus (lime)
 
Inferior Temporal Sulcus (blue)
- Not usually very continuous
 - Divides middle temporal gyrus from inferior temporal gyrus (lavender)
 
Superior and Inferior Frontal Sulci
Superior Frontal Sulcus (red)
- Divides superior frontal gyrus (mocha) from the middle frontal gyrus (pink)
 
Inferior Frontal Sulcus (blue)
- Divides the middle frontal gyrus from the inferior frontal gyrus (gold)
 
**Orbital gyrus (green) and frontal pole (grey) also are shown.
Medial Frontal View
- Superior frontal gyrus continues on medial side
 - Frontal pole (grey) and frontal orbital gyrus (green) also shown
 
