upper boundary of the hinder part of the Sylvian fissure; as this gyrus occupies the hollow in the parietal bone, which corresponds to the eminence, it may appropriately be named the gyrus of the parietal eminence. Above and behind the gyrus of the parietal eminence is the angular gyrus, which bends round the posterior extremity of the parallel fissure, while arching over the hinder end of the inferior temporo-sphenoidal sulcus is the post-parietal gyrus. Lying in the parietal lobe is the intra-parietal fissure (fig. 9, p3 and p4), which separates the gyrus of the parietal eminence from the supra-parietal lobule.
The Central Lobe of the hemisphere, more usually called the insula or island of Reil, does not come to the surface of the hemisphere, but lies deeply within the Sylvian fissure, the opercula forming the margin of which, conceal it. It consists of four or five short gyri, which radiate from the locus perforatus anticus, situated at the inner end of the fissure. This lobe is almost entirely surrounded by a deep sulcus called the limiting sulcus of Reil, which insulates it from the adjacent gyri. It lies opposite the upper part of the ali-sphenoid, where it articulates with the parietal and squamous-temporal.
In front of the central lobe, on the base of the brain, are the orbital gyri, which are separated from one another by the orbital sulcus. This is usually H-shaped, and the gyri are therefore anterior, posterior, external and internal. Bisecting the internal orbital gyrus is an antero-posteripr sulcus (s. rectus), beneath which lies the olfactory lobe, bulbous in front, for the olfactory nerves to arise from.
On the mesial surface of the hemisphere, as seen when the brain is longitudinally bisected and the cerebellum and medulla removed by cutting through the crus cerebri (see fig. 11), the divided corpus callosum is the most central object, while below it are seen the fornix, septum lucidum and third ventricle, the description of which will follow. The cerebral surface, above and in front of the corpus callosum, is divided into two by a sulcus, the contour of which closely resembles that of the upper margin of the corpus callosum. This is the calloso-marginal sulcus, so called because it separates the callosal gyrus, which lies between it and the corpus callosum, from the marginal gyri nearer the margin of the brain. When the sulcus reaches a point vertically above the hind end of the corpus callosum it turns sharply upward and so forms the hinder limit of the marginal gyri, the posterior inch or two of which is more or less distinctly marked off to form the paracentral lobule, where the upper part of the central fissure of Rolando turns over the margin of the brain. The callosal gyrus, which is also called the gyrus fornicatus from its arched appearance, is continued backward round the posterior end of the corpus callosum, and so to the mesial surface of the temporal lobe. Behind the upturned end of the calloso-marginal sulcus there is a square area which is called the precuneus or quadrate lobe; it is bounded behind by the deeply cut internal parieto-occipital fissure and this runs from the margin of the brain downward and forward to join another fissure, the calcarine, at an acute angle, thus enclosing a wedge-shaped piece of brain called the cuneus between them. The calcarine fissure is fairly horizontal, and is joined about its middle by the internal parieto-occipital, so that the part in front of the junction is called the pre-calcarine, and that behind the post-calcarine fissure. The internal parieto-occipital and calcarine are real fissures, because they cause an elevation in the interior of the brain, known as the hippocampus minor. Just in front of the anterior end of the calcarine fissure the callosal gyrus is constricted to form the isthmus which connects it with the hippocampal or uncinate gyrus. Below the calcarine fissure is a gyrus called the gyrus lingualis, and this is bounded below by another true fissure, the collateral, which runs parallel to the calcarine, but is continued much farther forward into the temporal lobe and so forms the lower boundary of the hippocampal gyrus. It will thus be seen that the hippocampal gyrus is continuous posteriorly with the callosal gyrus above by means of the isthmus, and with the gyrus lingualis below. The hippocampal gyrus is bounded above by the dentate or hippocampal fissure which causes the hippocampus major in the descending cornu and so is a complete fissure. If its lips are separated the fascia dentata or gyrus dentatus and the fimbria continued from the posterior pillar of the fornix are seen. Anteriorly the fissure is arrested by the recurved process of the upper part of the hippocampal gyrus, called the uncus, and in front of this a slight sulcus, the incisura temporalis, marks off the temporal pole or tip of the temporal lobe from the region of the uncus. It will be seen that the callosal gyrus, isthmus, and hippocampal gyrus form nearly a complete ring, and to this the name of limbic lobe is given.
Interior of the Cerebrum.
If a horizontal slice be removed from the upper part of each hemisphere (see fig. 12), the peripheral grey matter of the gyri will be seen to follow their various windings, whilst the core of each gyrus consists of white matter continuous with a mass of white matter in the interior of the hemisphere. If a deeper slice be now made down to the plane of the corpus callosum, the white matter of that structure will be seen to be continuous with the white centre of each hemisphere known as the centrum ovale. The corpus callosum does not equal the hemispheres in length, but approaches nearer to their anterior than their posterior ends. It terminates behind in a free rounded end, named the splenium (see fig. 11), whilst in front it forms a knee-shaped bend, and passes downwards and backwards as far as the lamina cinerea. If the dissection be performed on a brain which has been hardened in spirit, the corpus callosum is seen to consist almost entirely of bundles of nerve fibres, passing transversely across the mesial plane between the two hemispheres; these fibres may be traced into the white cores and grey matter of the gyri, and connect the gyri, though by no means always corresponding ones, in the opposite hemispheres. Hence the corpus callosum is a connecting or commissural structure, which brings the gyri of the two hemispheres into anatomical and physiological relation with each other. On the surface of the corpus callosum a few fibres, the striae longitudinales, run in the antero-posterior or longitudinal direction (see fig. 12, b). Their morphological interest is referred to in the section below on Comparative Anatomy. In the sulcus between the corpus callosum and the limbic lobe a narrow band of fibres called the cingulum is seen, most of its fibres only run a short distance in it and link together adjacent parts of the brain. If the corpus callosum be now cut through on each side of its mesial line, the large cavity or lateral ventricle in each hemisphere will be opened into.
From Cunningham, Text-The book of Anatomy. |
Fig. 11.—The Gyri and Sulci on the Mesial Aspect of the Cerebral Hemisphere, r, Fissure of Rolando. r, o, Rostral sulcus. i, t, Incisura temporalis. |
The lateral ventricle is subdivided into a central space body, and three bent prolongations or cornua; the anterior cornu extends forward, outward and downward into the frontal lobe; the posterior cornu curves backward, outward and inward into the occipital lobe;