Brodmann area 31 of the bilateral right cerebrum limbic lobe precuneus gray matter is a cytoarchitectonic region located in the posterior cingulate/medial parietal cortex, extending into the dorsal precuneus along the medial wall of the parietal lobe. It is part of the limbic-parietal association cortex and is heavily interconnected with other posterior cingulate areas, precuneus, retrosplenial cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and medial temporal structures. Functionally, this region is implicated in higher-order integration of visuospatial information, autobiographical and episodic memory, self-referential processing, and internally directed cognition, and it forms a core node of the default mode network. In the Talairach 1 mm atlas, its gray matter label reflects its position within the medial parietal/limbic transition zone rather than a strictly primary sensory or motor area. There is no direct link for this exact composite label; a related structure is Brodmann area 31.
The bilateral right precuneus (limbic/parietal, BA31 region in the Talairach 1 mm atlas) has been implicated in several genetic and genome‑wide association study (GWAS) findings, primarily via imaging genetics and large-scale brain structure/function consortia such as ENIGMA and UK Biobank, rather than through a single canonical gene–region link. Variants in genes influencing synaptic plasticity, neurodevelopment, and myelination (for example in pathways involving BDNF, NPTN, CNTNAP2, and genes regulating glutamatergic and GABAergic transmission) have been associated with precuneus cortical thickness, surface area, and resting-state connectivity, although effects are typically small and polygenic. GWAS of cortical morphology have identified loci near genes such as HMGA2, IGF1, and MIR2113 associated with parietal/precuneus measures, suggesting shared genetic architecture with global brain size and cognitive performance. Functionally, the precuneus is a core hub of the default mode network, and genetic variants conferring risk for Alzheimer’s disease (e.g., in APOE, CLU, PICALM) and schizophrenia (e.g., within MHC region and synaptic genes) have been linked to altered metabolism, connectivity, or gray matter volume in this region. Additional associations involve autism spectrum disorder, major depressive disorder, ADHD, and individual differences in traits such as episodic memory, self-referential processing, and mind-wandering, where polygenic risk scores for these conditions covary with structural or functional measures of the precuneus, highlighting its role as a convergent node for distributed, highly polygenic influences rather than a region with a single dominant genetic determinant.
Overview generated by GPT-4o (2026).
Region ID: 923
Hemisphere: bilateral
Atlas: Talairach labels 1mm
Full Quality Version: Download MP4
Full Quality Version: Download MP4
Wali Sidiqyar*, Gaurav Rudravaram*, Elyssa M. McMaster, Trent M. Schwartz, Adam M. Saunders, Kurt G. Schilling, Bennett A. Landman "Introducing SPINS: A Shared Public Visualization Library of Neuroanatomical Structures." Medical Imaging with Deep Learning- short paper
This resource is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain).