Cortical area · one in each half of the brain
Parahippocampal gyrus
Also called PHG
Your scene recognizer: it knows a kitchen from a beach at a glance.
A ridge along the inner underside of the temporal lobe, running right beside the hippocampus. Part of it, the parahippocampal place area, responds strongly to pictures of places and scenes, such as rooms, streets and landscapes, much more than to faces or objects. It helps you recognize where you are, find your way, and remember where things happened.
Where it is
On the inner underside of the temporal lobe, running front to back next to the hippocampus, between the fusiform gyrus and the middle of the brain.
What it does
Recognizing scenes
It quickly tells what kind of place you are looking at, a kitchen, a forest, a street.
Finding your way
It helps you recognize landmarks, like the corner shop where you turn left.
Context of memories
It helps tie memories to where they happened, so recalling a place can bring back the event.
Things that go together
It seems to link objects with their usual settings, like an oven with a kitchen.
Think of it as a film location scout who instantly recognizes a setting and remembers what happened there.
Works with
- Entorhinal cortexIt passes scene and place information forward to this gateway of the hippocampus.
- HippocampusTogether they tie places to events, forming memories of where things happened.
- Isthmus of the cingulateThis nearby area helps place a recognized scene on your mental map and work out which way to go.
- Lingual gyrusIts neighbor at the back passes it early visual information about scenes.
- PrecuneusTogether they help you picture places in your mind's eye.
When it goes wrong
Getting lost in familiar places
After damage here, people may no longer recognize familiar buildings or streets and get lost in their own neighborhood.
Alzheimer's disease
It is affected early in Alzheimer's disease, which may add to memory and navigation problems.
For learning only, not medical advice. If you have a health concern, talk to a doctor.
Surprising facts
- The parahippocampal place area was discovered in 1998. It responds strongly even to pictures of empty rooms, but only weakly to single objects.
- When doctors stimulated this area in a patient with epilepsy, he suddenly saw scenes of places, including views of his own neighborhood.
Where the name comes from
From the Greek "para" (beside) and "hippocampus". It is the ridge beside the hippocampus, whose name means "seahorse" because of its curved shape.
Quick quiz
3 questions. Your answers are saved and come back in your daily review.
Which of these is a job of the parahippocampal gyrus?
Show the answer
Recognizing scenes. It quickly tells what kind of place you are looking at, a kitchen, a forest, a street.
Recognizing scenes. It quickly tells what kind of place you are looking at, a kitchen, a forest, a street.
The parahippocampal gyrus is part of which larger structure?
Show the answer
Medial temporal cortex. It belongs to the medial temporal cortex.
Medial temporal cortex. It belongs to the medial temporal cortex.
Which part fits this description? "Like a film location scout who instantly recognizes a setting and remembers what happened there."
Show the answer
Parahippocampal gyrus. It is the parahippocampal gyrus. Your scene recognizer: it knows a kitchen from a beach at a glance.
Parahippocampal gyrus. It is the parahippocampal gyrus. Your scene recognizer: it knows a kitchen from a beach at a glance.
These parts now come back in your daily review, just before you would forget them.
Practice it and its neighbors in 3DSources
- Parahippocampal gyrus, Radiopaedia
- Unsolved Questions In Visual Perception, OpenStax, Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience
- Neuroanatomy, Temporal Lobe, StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf
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