The lingual gyrus lies on the inner underside of the occipital lobe, between the calcarine sulcus above and the back part of the collateral sulcus below. Behind, it reaches the occipital pole; in front, it continues onto the underside of the temporal lobe and joins the parahippocampal gyrus. [1]
The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The text below still says where the lingual gyrus is and what it does.
Opens cut down the midline and seen from the left and a little below, so you look at the inner face of the right hemisphere: the lingual gyrus is the lower strip of the lit occipital lobe, below the calcarine sulcus, running forward toward the parahippocampal gyrus. Drag to turn, pinch or scroll to zoom, tap any part to name it; .
Lit: the whole occipital lobe, on both sides. This atlas draws the part it lies in as one shape, so it cannot be lit apart; lit: that whole part. It is the part of the occipital lobe below the calcarine sulcus. BodyParts3D draws each occipital lobe as one shape with no lingual gyrus, cuneus or calcarine sulcus of its own, so the whole lobe is lit; its forward stretch toward the parahippocampal gyrus is not drawn either. [1][2]
Held by the occipital lobe — see the whole lobe on its own page.
Where it is
It lies between the calcarine sulcus and the posterior part of the collateral sulcus; behind, it reaches the occipital pole, and in front it continues onto the tentorial surface of the temporal lobe and joins the parahippocampal gyrus. [1]
The cuneus is above the calcarine sulcus, while the lingual gyrus is below it. [3]
What it does
The lower bank of the calcarine sulcus, the lingula, takes in the upper half of the visual field on the opposite side (the cuneus above takes the lower half). [4][5]
It is part of the visual cortex involved in identifying and recognising words: it responds to letters, though not to whether they form a word, and its activity rises with word length. [1]
In fMRI it is active while people memorise complex pictures and again when they recall them weeks later; the left lingual gyrus is active while holding images of faces in working memory. [1]
Despite the name, which comes from its tongue-like shape, it has little to do with speech. [1]
Connections
In front it runs into the parahippocampal gyrus, which passes information on to the hippocampus for memory. [1][6]
Other names
Also called the medial occipitotemporal gyrus; named after its shape, somewhat like a tongue (Latin lingua). [1]
Size
The model has no shape for the lingual gyrus itself, so it is not measured here. The whole left occipital lobe that holds it measures about 63 mm front to back, 54 mm top to bottom and 44 mm side to side on this model (the box it fits in, not its volume). [2]
Facts describe anatomy and normal function only. The 3D model is the adult male BodyParts3D brain (credits and licence); real brains vary in size and shape, so its measurements describe one model, not anyone’s brain.