The bilateral Left Cerebrum.Parietal Lobe.Postcentral Gyrus.Gray Matter.Brodmann area 2 corresponds to a portion of the primary somatosensory cortex located in the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe, specialized for processing tactile and proprioceptive information with an emphasis on complex feature analysis such as size, shape, and texture of objects (stereognosis). Brodmann area 2 integrates input from cutaneous and deep receptors, receives thalamocortical projections primarily from the ventral posterior nucleus, and participates in higher-order somatosensory representation and sensorimotor integration, contributing to object recognition through touch and modulation of fine motor control. There is no direct link for Brodmann area 2; see the related structure Primary somatosensory cortex.
The bilateral left postcentral gyrus gray matter in Brodmann area 2, a key somatosensory region, has been implicated in several genetic and GWAS-based associations primarily through imaging genetics and neuropsychiatric studies rather than region-specific gene mapping. Variants in genes influencing cortical thickness and surface area (e.g., those in pathways related to neurodevelopment, synaptic function, and axonal guidance identified by large-scale ENIGMA and UK Biobank studies) show associations with parietal and postcentral cortical morphology, including BA2, with polygenic influences rather than single-gene effects. GWAS of chronic pain, tactile perception, and somatosensory processing have linked common variants in ion channel genes and nociception-related pathways to altered activation and structure in the postcentral gyrus, though not uniquely to BA2. Neuropsychiatric GWAS (for schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, and major depression) frequently report parietal/postcentral structural and functional differences that co-localize with polygenic burden, reflecting broad genetic effects on cortical development that include BA2. In motor and somatosensory epilepsy, familial and candidate-gene studies (e.g., involving sodium channel and GABA receptor genes) have identified variants associated with seizure foci that can involve postcentral somatosensory cortex. Overall, current genetic evidence supports a highly polygenic, distributed influence on BA2 structure and function, with associations emerging from genome-wide patterns affecting somatosensory, pain, and neurodevelopmental traits rather than discrete, BA2-specific loci.
Overview generated by GPT-4o (2026).
Region ID: 891
Hemisphere: bilateral
Atlas: Talairach labels 2mm
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
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