| Inferior temporal gyrus | |
|---|---|
 Lateral surface of left cerebral hemisphere, viewed from the side. (Inferior temporal gyrus shown in orange.) | |
 Drawing of a cast to illustrate the relations of the brain to the skull. (Inferior temporal gyrus labeled at center, in green section.) | |
| Details | |
| Part of | Temporal lobe |
| Artery | Posterior cerebral |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | gyrus temporalis inferior |
| NeuroNames | 138 |
| NeuroLex ID | birnlex_1577 |
| TA98 | A14.1.09.148 |
| TA2 | 5497 |
| FMA | 61907 |
| Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy | |
The inferior temporal gyrus is one of three gyri of the temporal lobe and is located below the middle temporal gyrus, connected behind with the inferior occipital gyrus; it also extends around the infero-lateral border on to the inferior surface of the temporal lobe, where it is limited by the inferior sulcus. This region is one of the higher levels of the ventral stream of visual processing, associated with the representation of objects, places, faces, and colors.[1][2] It may also be involved in face perception,[3] and in the recognition of numbers and words.[4][5]
The inferior temporal gyrus is the anterior region of the temporal lobe located underneath the central temporal sulcus. The primary function of the occipital temporal gyrus – otherwise referenced as IT cortex – is associated with visual stimuli processing, namely visual object recognition, and has been suggested by recent experimental results as the final location of the ventral cortical visual system.[6] The IT cortex in humans is also known as the Inferior Temporal Gyrus since it has been located to a specific region of the human temporal lobe.[7] The IT processes visual stimuli of objects in our field of vision, and is involved with memory and memory recall to identify that object; it is involved with the processing and perception created by visual stimuli amplified in the V1, V2, V3, and V4 regions of the occipital lobe. This region processes the color and form of the object in the visual field and is responsible for producing the "what" from this visual stimuli, or in other words identifying the object based on the color and form of the object and comparing that processed information to stored memories of objects to identify that object.[6]
The IT cortex's neurological significance is not just its contribution to the processing of visual stimuli in object recognition but also has been found to be a vital area with regards to simple processing of the visual field, difficulties with perceptual tasks and spatial awareness, and the location of unique single cells that possibly explain the IT cortex's relation to memory.
- ^ Baldauf, D.; Desimone, R. (2014-04-25). "Neural Mechanisms of Object-Based Attention". Science. 344 (6182): 424–427. Bibcode:2014Sci...344..424B. doi:10.1126/science.1247003. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 24763592. S2CID 34728448.
- ^ ROSA LAFER-SOUSA and BEVIL CONWAY (October 20, 2013). "Parallel, multi-stage processing of colors, faces and shapes in macaque inferior temporal cortex". Nature Neuroscience. 16 (12): 1870–1878. doi:10.1038/nn.3555. PMC 3957328. PMID 24141314.
- ^ Haxby indicates that a few studies have found face perception in the inferior temporal sulcus, with the majority of sites elsewhere in the brain: p.2, Haxby, et al. (2000) "The distributed human neural system for face perception" Trends in Cognitive Sciences 4 (6) June 2000, 11pp.
- ^ BRUCE GOLDMAN (April 16, 2013). "Scientists pinpoint brain's area for numeral recognition". Stanford School of Medicine. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
- ^ Poggio, Tomaso; Anselmi, Fabio (23 September 2016). Visual Cortex and Deep Networks. MIT Press. pp. 45–51. ISBN 978-0-262-03472-2.
- ^ a b Kolb, B; Whishaw, I. Q. (2014). An Introduction to Brain and Behavior (Fourth ed.). New York, NY: Worth. pp. 282–312.
- ^ Gross, C. G. (2008). "Inferior temporal cortex". Scholarpedia. 3 (12): 7294. Bibcode:2008SchpJ...3.7294G. doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.7294.