Cortical area · one in each half of the brain
Cuneus
A wedge of visual cortex that sees the lower half of your view.
The cuneus is a wedge-shaped patch on the inner surface of the occipital lobe, just above the calcarine sulcus. It holds early visual areas that help process what you see. Because the brain's visual map is flipped, this part handles the lower half of your view on the opposite side. It passes information up toward the parietal lobe to help guide movement.
Where it is
On the inner surface of the occipital lobe, visible when the brain is split down the middle. It sits between the calcarine sulcus below and the parieto-occipital sulcus above.
What it does
Seeing the lower field
It handles the lower half of your view on the opposite side, where the ground and your hands usually are.
Early visual steps
It refines basic features like edges, contrast and simple patterns handed on from V1.
Feeding the "where" pathway
It passes information up to the parietal lobe to help locate objects and guide your hands.
Think of it as the camera operator filming the ground: it covers the lower half of the view, while its partner below the groove films the sky.
Works with
- Primary visual cortexIt receives its input from V1 lining the groove just below.
- Lingual gyrusIts partner below the groove handles the upper half of your view. Together they cover the whole scene.
- Optic radiationThe upper fibers of this cable carry the lower half of your view toward this side of the groove.
- PrecuneusIts neighbor in front uses visual information for imagery and spatial thinking.
- Superior parietal lobuleIt feeds the parietal lobe the visual information needed for reaching and moving.
When it goes wrong
Losing a lower corner of vision
Damage to the cuneus or the fibers above it can blank out the lower quarter of vision on the opposite side. Doctors nickname this "pie on the floor".
For learning only, not medical advice. If you have a health concern, talk to a doctor.
Surprising facts
- Your brain stores vision upside down and flipped left to right: the cuneus, on top, handles what is below your gaze.
- The cuneus and the lingual gyrus sit like two lips around the calcarine groove, one watching the ground and one the sky.
Where the name comes from
Latin for "wedge", because of its triangular shape. The same root gives "cuneiform", the wedge-shaped writing of ancient Mesopotamia.
Quick quiz
3 questions. Your answers are saved and come back in your daily review.
Which of these is a job of the cuneus?
Show the answer
Seeing the lower field. It handles the lower half of your view on the opposite side, where the ground and your hands usually are.
Seeing the lower field. It handles the lower half of your view on the opposite side, where the ground and your hands usually are.
The cuneus is part of which larger structure?
Show the answer
Occipital lobe. It belongs to the occipital lobe.
Occipital lobe. It belongs to the occipital lobe.
Which part fits this description? "Like the camera operator filming the ground: it covers the lower half of the view, while its partner below the groove films the sky."
Show the answer
Cuneus. It is the cuneus. A wedge of visual cortex that sees the lower half of your view.
Cuneus. It is the cuneus. A wedge of visual cortex that sees the lower half of your view.
These parts now come back in your daily review, just before you would forget them.
Practice it and its neighbors in 3DSources
- Cuneus, Radiopaedia
- Neuroanatomy, Visual Pathway, StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf
- Neuroanatomy, Occipital Lobe, StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf
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Explore the cuneus in 3D
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