| Brain: Posterior cingulate cortex | ||
|---|---|---|
| Medial surface of left cerebral hemisphere. | ||
| Medial surface. (Areas 23 and 31 at center right. Image is reversed from image above.) | ||
| Latin | Cortex cingularis posterior | |
| Gray's | subject #189 825 | |
| Part of | Cingulate gyrus | |
| NeuroNames | hier-144 | |
| NeuroLex ID | birnlex_950 | |
The posterior cingulate cortex is the backmost part of the cingulate cortex, lying behind 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 posterior cingulate cortex forms a central node in the "default mode" network of the brain. Along with the precuneus, it has been implicated as a neural substrate for human awareness in numerous studies of both the anesthesized and vegetative (coma) state. Imaging studies indicate a prominent role for the posterior cingulate cortex in pain and episodic memory retrieval.[1] The posterior cingulate may also be involved in the capacity to understand what other people believe.[2]
For details regarding MRI definitions of the cingulate cortex based on the Desikan-Killiany Brain atlas, see:
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