Cortical area · one in each half of the brain
Superior temporal sulcus
Also called STS, Banks of the superior temporal sulcus
Your social radar: it reads gazes, voices and body language.
The superior temporal sulcus is a long groove along the side of the temporal lobe. This region covers its banks, the walls of the groove near its back end. It is a hotspot for reading other people: it tracks where they look, how they move and how their voice sounds. It also merges sight and sound, for example matching lip movements to speech.
Where it is
On the side of the temporal lobe, inside the groove between the top and middle temporal ridges, toward the back where the temporal lobe meets the parietal lobe.
What it does
Seeing living motion
It is tuned to how people and animals move, so you can tell someone is walking, dancing or limping from a glance.
Reading faces
It tracks the parts of a face that change, like eye gaze and expressions, so you can tell where someone is looking and how they feel.
Recognizing voices
Its upper bank responds more to human voices than to other sounds.
Lip reading
It combines what you see and hear, blending lip movements with speech sounds.
Guessing intentions
Together with nearby areas, it helps you figure out what others want or plan to do.
Think of it as a people-watcher on a park bench, reading glances, gestures and tones of voice.
Works with
- Fusiform gyrusThe fusiform gyrus works out who a face belongs to, while the STS reads what that face is doing.
- Superior temporal gyrusThe hearing ridge above it passes along speech and voice signals.
- AmygdalaTogether they help pick up emotional signals in faces, like fear.
- Angular gyrus regionWhere the two meet, the brain works out other people's beliefs and intentions.
- Lateral occipital cortexThe motion area sits just behind the part of the STS that reads body movement.
When it goes wrong
Autism
Studies have found that the STS can respond differently in autistic people, for example to voices, which may relate to differences in social communication.
Trouble reading social cues
Damage in this region can make it harder to follow someone's gaze or read emotions from their face or voice.
For learning only, not medical advice. If you have a health concern, talk to a doctor.
Surprising facts
- Put about a dozen small lights on a person's joints and film them moving in the dark. Viewers easily see what the person is doing, and can often guess their mood. The STS is a big part of why.
- In the "McGurk effect", seeing lips say "ga" while hearing "ba" makes many people hear "da". Temporarily disrupting the STS weakens this illusion.
Where the name comes from
"Sulcus" is Latin for "furrow" or "groove". The "banks" are the two walls of the groove, like the banks of a river.
Quick quiz
3 questions. Your answers are saved and come back in your daily review.
Which of these is a job of the superior temporal sulcus?
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Seeing living motion. It is tuned to how people and animals move, so you can tell someone is walking, dancing or limping from a glance.
Seeing living motion. It is tuned to how people and animals move, so you can tell someone is walking, dancing or limping from a glance.
The superior temporal sulcus is part of which larger structure?
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Temporal lobe. It belongs to the temporal lobe.
Temporal lobe. It belongs to the temporal lobe.
Which part fits this description? "Like a people-watcher on a park bench, reading glances, gestures and tones of voice."
Show the answer
Superior temporal sulcus. It is the superior temporal sulcus. Your social radar: it reads gazes, voices and body language.
Superior temporal sulcus. It is the superior temporal sulcus. Your social radar: it reads gazes, voices and body language.
These parts now come back in your daily review, just before you would forget them.
Practice it and its neighbors in 3DSources
- Neuroanatomy, Temporal Lobe, StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf
- Superior temporal sulcus, Radiopaedia
- Physiology, Cerebral Cortex Functions, StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf
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