Posterior cingulate cortex

Posterior cingulate cortex
Sagittal MRI slice with highlighting indicating location of the posterior cingulate
Medial surface. (Areas 23 and 31 at center right.)
Details
Part ofCingulate gyrus
Identifiers
Latincortex cingularis posterior
NeuroNames162
NeuroLex IDbirnlex_950
FMA61924
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy

The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is the caudal part of the cingulate cortex, located posterior to the anterior cingulate cortex. This is the upper part of the "limbic lobe". The cingulate cortex is made up of an area around the midline of the brain. Surrounding areas include the retrosplenial cortex and the precuneus.

Cytoarchitectonically the posterior cingulate cortex is associated with Brodmann areas 23 and 31.

The PCC forms a central node in the default mode network of the brain. It has been shown to communicate with various brain networks simultaneously and is involved in diverse functions.[1] Along with the precuneus, the PCC has been implicated as a neural substrate for human awareness in numerous studies of both the anesthetized and vegetative (coma) states. Imaging studies indicate a prominent role for the PCC in pain and episodic memory retrieval.[2] Increased size of the ventral PCC is related to a decline in working memory performance.[3] The PCC has also been strongly implicated as a key part of several intrinsic control networks.[4][5]

  1. ^ R Leech; R Braga; DJ Sharp (2012). "Echoes of the brain within the posterior cingulate cortex". The Journal of Neuroscience. 32 (1): 215–222. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3689-11.2012. PMC 6621313. PMID 22219283.
  2. ^ Nielsen FA, Balslev D, Hansen LK (2005). "Mining the posterior cingulate: segregation between memory and pain components" (PDF). NeuroImage. 27 (3): 520–532. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.04.034. PMID 15946864. S2CID 18509039.
  3. ^ Kozlovskiy SA, Vartanov AV, Nikonova EY, Pyasik MM, Velichkovsky BM (2012). "The Cingulate Cortex and Human Memory Processes". Psychology in Russia: State of the Art. 5: 231–243. doi:10.11621/pir.2012.0014.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Leech was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pearson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).