The bilateral Right Cerebrum.Temporal Lobe.Angular Gyrus.Gray Matter.Brodmann area 39 corresponds to a heteromodal association cortex located at the junction of the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes, traditionally referred to as the angular gyrus of Brodmann area 39. This region is implicated in high-level integrative functions, including semantic processing, reading and writing, number processing, and aspects of theory of mind and episodic memory retrieval. It participates in language-related networks (particularly in the dominant hemisphere) and in visuospatial and attention networks, acting as a convergence zone for auditory, visual, and somatosensory inputs. Cytoarchitectonically, BA39 exhibits features of association cortex with relatively well-developed supragranular layers supporting cortico-cortical connectivity, and it is strongly interconnected with other temporal, parietal, and frontal association areas as well as limbic structures. Angular gyrus
The bilateral angular gyrus (right cerebrum, temporal lobe, Brodmann area 39) has been repeatedly implicated in genetic and GWAS-based studies of higher cognitive function, neurodevelopmental traits, and neuropsychiatric disorders, largely via imaging–genetics and large-scale cortical morphometry GWAS rather than single locus–region mappings. Gene-based and SNP-based associations affecting cortical thickness, surface area, and gray matter volume in the inferior parietal and temporoparietal junction regions encompassing BA39 have highlighted loci near or within genes involved in neuronal development, synaptic function, and axon guidance (for example, variants in or near HMGA2, CENPW, MIR588, and other neurodevelopmentally relevant loci reported in ENIGMA and UK Biobank-derived GWAS of parietal and temporal cortex). Polygenic scores for general cognitive ability, educational attainment, and reading-related skills correlate with structural and functional variation in the angular gyrus, consistent with its role in semantic processing, number cognition, and language. Disorder-linked genetic risk—particularly for schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease—has been associated with altered gray matter or connectivity of BA39 in imaging–genetic studies, with AD risk loci such as APOE and polygenic burden for AD and related dementias showing associations to atrophy patterns that include the angular gyrus. Additionally, genes implicated in dyslexia and language-related endophenotypes have been associated with functional recruitment and structure in temporoparietal regions overlapping BA39, supporting a genetically influenced vulnerability of this area in language and learning disorders, though precise, single-region genetic associations specific exclusively to the Talairach-defined “Right Cerebrum.Temporal Lobe.Angular Gyrus.Gray Matter.Brodmann area 39” remain coarse and typically arise from broader parietal or temporoparietal cluster analyses.
Overview generated by GPT-4o (2026).
Region ID: 959
Hemisphere: bilateral
Atlas: Talairach labels 1mm
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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
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