The bilateral inter-hemispheric precuneus is a medial parietal lobe region located on the dorsal surface of the brain between the two cerebral hemispheres, posterior to the paracentral lobule and anterior to the cuneus. In Talairach space, it occupies the medial aspect of the superior parietal lobule, extending across the longitudinal fissure. The precuneus is structurally connected with frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital association cortices as well as subcortical structures, and functionally is a key hub of the default mode network. It is implicated in visuospatial imagery, episodic memory retrieval, self-referential processing, and aspects of consciousness and awareness, with bilateral inter-hemispheric involvement supporting integration of information across both hemispheres. Precuneus
The bilateral inter-hemispheric precuneus, a core hub of the default mode network, has been consistently implicated in genetic studies linking brain structure and function to complex traits and disorders. Twin and imaging–genetics studies show that precuneus volume, cortical thickness, and connectivity are highly heritable, with common variation in genes involved in synaptic function and neurodevelopment (e.g., BDNF, COMT, APOE, and polygenic scores for schizophrenia and autism) associated with its morphology and activity. Large-scale GWAS of brain imaging phenotypes (e.g., UK Biobank, ENIGMA) have identified multiple loci influencing precuneus structure, including variants in genes related to neuronal signaling and cell adhesion (such as MSRA, DLG2, and regions near the MHC), and these imaging-derived traits often share genetic correlations with cognitive performance, educational attainment, and risk for major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. GWAS of functional connectivity and default mode network traits have further linked precuneus-centric networks to polygenic risk for Alzheimer’s disease, with APOE ε4 and other AD-risk variants associated with altered precuneus metabolism and connectivity, as well as to anxiety and neuroticism-related polygenic scores. Collectively, genetic associations point to the precuneus as a structurally and functionally heritable hub whose variation contributes to susceptibility for psychiatric disorders, neurodegeneration, and cognitive traits, although the Talairach 2 mm atlas label itself serves primarily as a spatial reference rather than being tied to a unique set of genetic findings.
Overview generated by GPT-4o (2026).
Region ID: 988
Hemisphere: bilateral
Atlas: Talairach labels 2mm
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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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