Corpus callosum: anatomy, location and function

What it is

The corpus callosum is the largest white matter commissure, connecting the left and right cerebral hemispheres.

Location

It forms the floor of the longitudinal fissure and the roof of the lateral ventricles, with the rostrum, genu, body and splenium from front to back.

Function

It allows the two hemispheres to exchange information and coordinate their activities, linking corresponding cortical areas.

Body system

Nervous · single, midline structure

FMA ID

FMA86464 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

• Contains roughly 200 million axons.
• Supplied mainly by the pericallosal branches of the anterior cerebral artery; the splenium also receives posterior cerebral artery branches.
• Fibres through the genu link the frontal lobes (forceps minor), and fibres through the splenium link the occipital lobes (forceps major).

Clinical relevance

Agenesis of the corpus callosum is a congenital malformation, and surgical callosotomy is sometimes used to treat severe epilepsy.

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

• Pericallosal artery · cardiovascular
• Interventricular foramen · nervous
• Cingulate gyrus · nervous
• Choroid plexus of cerebral hemisphere · nervous
• Commissure of fornix of forebrain · nervous
• Third ventricle · nervous
• Thalamus · nervous
• Stria terminalis · nervous
• Internal capsule · nervous
• Caudate nucleus · nervous