The occipital lobe is the back end of each cerebral hemisphere, at the rear of the skull, behind the parietal and temporal lobes and above the cerebellum. [1][2]
The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The text below still says where the occipital lobe is and what it does.
Slice
Opens cut by a side (sagittal) slice through the occipital lobe. Drag to turn, pinch or scroll to zoom, tap any part to name it; .
The two occipital lobes are the smallest of the four paired lobes. [1]
It rests on the tentorium cerebelli, a sheet of dura mater that separates the cerebrum from the cerebellum. [1]
On the inner face of the hemisphere the parieto-occipital sulcus marks its border with the parietal lobe, and the calcarine sulcus runs front to back through it. [2][1]
On this model each occipital lobe is a single part, so its gyri are not lit separately, and its borders with the parietal and temporal lobes are where the atlas draws them. [3]
What it does
It is the main visual processing centre: the primary visual cortex (Brodmann area 17, called V1) lies here along the calcarine sulcus. [1][4][2]
Each side handles the opposite half of what the eyes see; the lingula, below the calcarine sulcus, receives the upper part of the opposite visual field. [1][4]
From V1, signals go on in two streams: a ventral stream (through V2 and V4) towards the temporal lobe for recognising what things are, and a dorsal stream (through V3 and MT, also called V5) towards the parietal lobe for where things are and how they move. [1][5]
Connections
Visual input arrives from the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus through the optic radiation. [6][7]
The two occipital lobes are linked across the midline through the back end of the corpus callosum, the splenium. [8]
Other names
Latin: lobus occipitalis. Named after the occipital bone over it, and so after its place at the back of the head. [1]
Size
On this model the left occipital lobe measures about 63 mm front to back, 54 mm top to bottom and 44 mm side to side (the box it fits in, not its volume); the right one is its mirror image. [3]
Centre of the left occipital lobe compared with the centre of the cerebellum: 27 mm further back, 30 mm higher, 18 mm further from the midline; 44 mm apart in a straight line. [3]
Centre of the left occipital lobe compared with the centre of the left parietal lobe: 21 mm further back, 42 mm lower, 15 mm closer to the midline; 49 mm apart in a straight line. [3]
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.