Cortical area · one in each half of the brain

Angular gyrus region

Also called Angular gyrus, Inferior parietal cortex, Brodmann area 39

A crossroads where sight, sound and touch meet: reading, math and meaning.

Open in 3D

This region, mostly the angular gyrus, sits where the parietal, temporal and occipital lobes meet. Because it lies at that crossroads, it blends vision, hearing and touch into meaning. It helps you read, recall math facts, understand metaphors and tell left from right. It is also part of the "default mode network", a set of areas that gets busy when you daydream or recall memories.

Where it is

Low on the back part of the parietal lobe, above and behind the ear, where the parietal, temporal and occipital lobes meet. It sits just behind the supramarginal gyrus.

What it does

Think of it as a busy train station where lines from sight, sound and touch all meet and swap passengers.

Works with

• Fusiform gyrusThe word-reading area on the underside of the brain passes it written words to connect with sound and meaning.
• Superior temporal gyrusIt teams up with Wernicke's area to understand spoken and written language.
• Supramarginal gyrusIts front neighbor handles the sounds of words, while the angular gyrus leans more toward meaning.
• PrecuneusBoth are core hubs of the default mode network, active during daydreaming and remembering.
• Posterior cingulate cortexAnother default mode hub that works with it when you think about yourself or your past.
• Middle temporal gyrusThis temporal ridge stores word meanings that the angular gyrus draws on.

When it goes wrong

For learning only, not medical advice. If you have a health concern, talk to a doctor.

Surprising facts

• In 2002, doctors testing a patient's brain before epilepsy treatment stimulated the right angular gyrus. Again and again, this set off an out-of-body experience: a feeling of leaving the body and seeing from a spot outside it.
• In 1891, neurologist Jules Dejerine described a man who suddenly could no longer read or write. After his death, the damage was found to involve the left angular gyrus.
• Parietal areas like this one are among the parts of the cortex that grew the most during human evolution, compared with monkeys.

Where the name comes from

"Angular" comes from the Latin for "angle": the ridge bends around the end of a groove, the superior temporal sulcus. "Inferior parietal lobule" simply means the lower small lobe of the parietal lobe.

Learn it in a lesson

• LanguageHearing, understanding, speaking, reading. A short guided lesson in 3D.

Sources

1. Angular gyrus, Radiopaedia
2. Gerstmann Syndrome, StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf
3. Alexia, StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf

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