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Posterior part of superior temporal gyrus: anatomy, location and function

This is the posterior portion of the superior temporal gyrus, important for hearing and language. In the dominant hemisphere it contains Wernicke's area, classically regarded as essential for understanding language; its exact boundaries are debated. It also contains auditory association cortex.

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Highlighted in the model: Posterior part of superior temporal gyrus. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Posterior part of superior temporal gyrus at a glance

What it is
This is the posterior portion of the superior temporal gyrus, important for hearing and language.
Location
It lies on the lateral and upper surface of the posterior temporal lobe, below the posterior lateral sulcus, and includes the planum temporale.
Function
In the dominant hemisphere it contains Wernicke's area, classically regarded as essential for understanding language; its exact boundaries are debated. It also contains auditory association cortex.
Body system
Nervous · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA72805 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Primary auditory cortex is on the neighbouring transverse temporal gyri.
  • The arcuate fasciculus links this region with Broca's area in the inferior frontal gyrus.
  • The planum temporale behind Heschl's gyrus is often larger on the left, matching left-hemisphere language dominance.

Clinical relevance

Damage to Wernicke's area causes fluent aphasia with impaired comprehension.

Structures next to the posterior part of superior temporal gyrus

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

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Posterior part of superior temporal gyrus (FMA72805). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §12.1 Basic Structure and Function of the Nervous System. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.