•20% of the total volume of the cerebrum

•Behind the temporal bone

•the temporal lobe is vulnerable to damage easily
Temporal lobe (lobus tempo
ralis)
• Superior surface.
• Lateral surface.
• Inferior surface.
 Superior surface
• Superior surface forms lower limit of lateral
fissure and overlaps the insula.
• The superior part of the temporal lobe correponds
to the part located in the depth of the sylvian
fissure .
• Transverse temporal gyrus.Heschl’s gyrus can be
seen on posterior part of upper surface of the
superior temporal gyrus.
• It receives the acoustic radiations and
corresponds to the primary auditory area.
• Around this area at the external part of the brain
the posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus
is called the Wernicke’s area.
ACA

MCA PCA
PLANUM TEMPORALE
 Anterior -Unimodal association cortex BA42
 Posterior -Multimodel association cortex BA22
 Analysis of complex sounds that change freq over
time as in language
 TONOTOPIC MAP of HESCHLS gyrus is close to
it
 Superior surface
• Posteriorly located on the superior
part of the temporal lobe the area is
called the planum temporal.
• It is larger on the dominant
hemisphere.
• NormanGeshwin, who analyzed this
area , got the idea that such
assymetry was in relation with the
importance of the cortical area
devoted to language functions .
 Lateral surface
• Lateral surface bounded above by the
posterior ramus of the lateral fissure, and
by the imaginary line continued backward
from it.
• Below it is limited by the infero lateral
boder of the hemisphere.
• Divided into:-
1.Superior gyrus.
2.Middle gyrus.
3.Inferior gyrus.
Wernicke’s area and primary
auditory area.
• Wernicke’s area is located in the posterior
part of the superior temporal gyrus.
• Heschl’s gyrus receives acoustic radiations
and it corresponds to primary auditory
area.(area 41 &42).
• Planum temporale (area 22) lies
immediately posterior to Heschl’s
convolution.it has rich reciprocal
connection between the medial geniculate
body and Heschl’s area.
 Kolb & Wishaw (1990) have identified eight principle
symptoms of temporal lobe
 damage: 1) disturbance of auditory sensation and perception,
2) disturbance of selective
 attention of auditory and visual input, 3) disorders of visual
perception, 4) impaired
 organization and categorization of verbal material, 5)
disturbance of language
 comprehension, 6) impaired long-term memory, 7) altered
personality and affective
 behavior, 8) altered sexual behavior.
 Selective attention to visual or auditory input is
common with damage to the temporal
 lobes (Milner, 1968). Left side lesions result in
decreased recall of verbal and visual
 content, including speech perception. Right side
lesions result in decreased recognition
 of tonal sequences and many musical abilities.
Right side lesions can also affect
 recognition of visual content (e.g. recall of faces).
 The temporal lobes are involved in the primary organization of sensory input (Read,
 1981). Individuals with temporal lobes lesions have difficulty placing words or pictures
 into categories.
 Language can be affected by temporal lobe damage. Left temporal lesions disturb
 recognition of words. Right temporal damage can cause a loss of inhibition of talking.
 The temporal lobes are highly associated with memory skills. Left temporal lesions result
 in impaired memory for verbal material. Right side lesions result in recall of non-verbal
 material, such as music and drawings.
 Seizures of the temporal lobe can have dramatic effects on an individual's personality.
 Temporal lobe epilepsy can cause perseverative speech, paranoia and aggressive
 rages (Blumer and Benson, 1975). Severe damage to the temporal lobes can also alter
 sexual behavior (e.g. increase in activity) (Blumer and Walker, 1975).
 Common tests for temporal lobe function are: Rey-Complex Figure (visual memory) and
 Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised (verbal memory).
FUNCTIONS OF TEMPORAL
LOBE
 MEMORY:

Mesial structures of the temporal lobe

(amygdala, hippocampus, and rhinal cortex)
William Beecher Scoville, M.D
EMOTION:
VISUAL PERCEPTION:
 Visual projections from the occipital lobe in two
streams- a dorsal route into parietal lobes that is
involved in spatial localization (where??) &
 a ventral stream into the temporal lobe that is
involved in the appreciation of the qualities of
objects (what??)
Face and Object Recognition:

 Damage to posterior inferior temporal lobe,

especially when bilateral and when portions of
inferior areas 18 and 19 are involved, can lead to a
condition called prosopagnosia.
Auditory perception:
 Primary auditory cortex is found on the transverse
temporal gyrus (gyri of Heschl), which has
connections with medial geniculate body.

 Auditory agnosia.
Association Areas of Language:

Most of the lateral and inferior temporal lobe

Coordination of auditory and visual aspects of language

Parts of the insula

Initiation of word articulation
Recognition of rhymes and sound sequences

 Wernicke’s aphasia
Auditory hallucinations:
fMRI studies: when patients listened to externally
generated speech their temporal regions showed
decreased activation if associated with auditory
hallucinations. (David & Busatto,1999)
Olfaction:
 primary olfactory cortex: part of the
parahippocampal gyrus anterior to the hippocampal
formation (including the uncus and the area around
the amygdala) together with the olfactory regions
on the adjoining surface of the frontal lobe.
 Studies in patients who have undergone anterior
temporal lobe resection, even confined to one
hemisphere, have found evidence of olfactory
deficits(in the ability to identify familiar odors)
LANGUAGE:

 Electrical stimulation of superior temporal sulcus in the

dominant hemisphere causes speech arrest or other
alterations of language abilities.
 PET findings show bilateral activation of Heschel’s
gyrus and unilateral activation of Wernicke’s area
(dominant hemisphere only) when listening to narrative.
 The middle temporal gyrus lies between the middle and
superior temporal sulci. Speech-related areas are
occasionally found here.
RELIGIOSITY:
 Right hemispheric temporal lobe lesions
 Complex Partial Seizures
 Temporal pole and theory of mind -
forebrain,hypothlms,auditory ass cortx,visual
cortexinsula, olfact cortex-
 Temporoparietaljunction and social brain
 Insula
SOCIAL BRAIN
 Temporoparietal jn
SOCIAL brain
 Multimodel sensory convergence area
 Inputs from sensory association area
 Auditory,somatosensory, visual association cortex
 Outputs to frontal ,parietal association
areas ,ventromedial temporal lobe, basal ganglia
INSULA
 Deep within lateral fissure
 MCA divides anterior and posterior regns of insula
 Input from somatosensory cortex,auditory cortex
and sensory relay nuclei of thalamus
 Efferent to motor cortex and temporal lobe
ANTERIOR INSULA
 Monitoring signals in viscera
 Alarm centre for internal visceral sensations
 Emotionalresponse to visceral signal
 Cardiac control cortex-basis of conscious awareness
of visceral activity ie heartbeat
 Unexpained anxiety with coronary thrombosis
 Appetite
 Pain
 Bladder filling sensation
SCHIZOPHRENIA
 Frontal and temporal connectivity decreased
 Larger left lateral fissure
 STG volume reduction
 Heschlgyrus and planum temporale abnl
 Metabolism in post temp regn decrease in hallucntn
DEPRESSION
 Increased metabolism R insula
 Vagus nerve activation in depression-insular
activation
insula
 Disgust in ocd –insula
 Recallsadness in n/l individuals
AUTOSCOPY
 Vestibular signals-VPL nucleus thalamus-posterior
insular cortex adjacent to parietal area, avestibular
sensory area
 Feeling of a presence
 Room tilt illusion
ROOM TILT ILLUSION
 TEMPOROPARIETAL
 Frontoparietal
 occipitoparietal
AUTISM
dyslexia
TEMPORAL LOBE
TESTS:
TEMPORAL LOBE TESTS:
 Memory
 Immediate memory (digit span, unrelated words
and address, Verbal story recall.)
 Recent memory (3object test, address recall)
 Remote memory
 Paired association learning.
 Visual: hidden objects, visual design reproduction
TEMPORAL LOBE TESTS:
 Auditory gnosis
 verbal: Comprehension of language
 Sounds: drop a coin
TEMPORAL LOBE TESTS:
 Prosapognosia (family members, famous
personalities)
 Field defects:Superior quadrantinopia
Damage to Temporal Lobe:
 Stroke
 neurodegenerative disease
 Encephalitis (herpes simplex)
 Resection
 Anoxia
 CPS
 Kluver Bucy Syndrome
 The syndrome is named for Heinrich Klüver and Paul Bucy
(1930).
 Experiments on rhesus monkeys.
 Excessive and rapid change in ideas-hypermetamorphosis
• Visual agnosia,
• Hyperorality,
• Hypermetamorphosis,
• Dampening of emotional expression (fear),
• Altered sexual behavior and differences in diet.
Kluver Bucy Syndrome in Humans
 CVA, Temporal lobectomy,
 Meningoencephalitis,
 Alzheimer's Disease, Anoxia, progressive
subcortical gliosis, Rett syndrome, porphyria,
carbon monoxide poisoning, among others.
Among humans, the most common symptoms
include Placidity, Hyperorality and
Dietary changes.

Three or more are required for a diagnosis.

 Temporal lobe syndrome:

 patients with temporal lobe pathology have a

particular way of behaving, usually involving a
personality change with hyperreligiosity & sexual
dysinhibition.
REFERENCES:
 Encyclopedia of human brain; V S Ramachandran
 Grey’s anatomy.
 IB Singh Textbook of human Neuroanatomy.
 Encyclopedia of Neurosciences.
 Clinical neuroanatomy 25th edition
THANK YOU