The bilateral Right Cerebrum.Temporal Lobe.Middle Temporal Gyrus.Gray Matter.Brodmann area 39 corresponds to the right-hemispheric portion of the angular gyrus region, situated at the posterior part of the middle temporal gyrus bordering the inferior parietal lobule. Brodmann area 39 is a heteromodal association cortex that integrates visual, auditory, and somatosensory information and is critically involved in language-related functions (including reading and semantic processing), spatial cognition, number processing, memory retrieval, and aspects of theory of mind and social cognition. In the right hemisphere, this region is particularly associated with visuospatial integration, attention to extrapersonal space, and certain aspects of pragmatic language and metaphor comprehension. Cytoarchitectonically, BA39 is characterized by a well-developed granular layer IV and dense cortico-cortical connections with adjacent temporal, parietal, and occipital association areas, as well as higher-order language and default-mode network hubs. There is no direct link for this precise Talairach combination; a closely related structure is the Angular gyrus.
The bilateral right middle temporal gyrus gray matter in Brodmann area 39 (angular/supramarginal territory within the temporal-parietal junction) is repeatedly implicated in genetic studies of language, social cognition, and neuropsychiatric disorders, although most evidence comes from imaging–genetics and GWAS of cortical measures that map only approximately to Talairach-defined regions. Common variants near genes involved in synaptic development and neuroplasticity (e.g., BDNF, CNTNAP2, FOXP2-related pathways) have been associated with structural and functional differences in BA39, particularly in tasks involving semantic processing, reading, and theory of mind. Large GWAS of brain MRI phenotypes (such as ENIGMA and UK Biobank–based studies) have identified multiple genome-wide significant loci influencing temporal lobe cortical thickness and surface area, including regions overlapping BA39, with implicated genes often enriched for neurodevelopmental and axon guidance pathways (e.g., variants near CUX1/2, POU3F2, and other transcription factors guiding cortical patterning). BA39-related territories show heritable alterations in disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, and dyslexia, where risk variants in synaptic and chromatin-modifying genes (e.g., GRIN2A, DCDC2, KIAA0319, and broader polygenic risk scores) correlate with atypical activation or morphology in this region during language and social cognition tasks. In Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, GWAS-identified risk loci (APOE, CLU, CR1, BIN1, and others) are associated with accelerated atrophy and connectivity changes in temporoparietal regions including BA39, which form part of the default mode and semantic networks. Overall, genetic influences on BA39 appear highly polygenic and pleiotropic, with overlapping sets of neurodevelopmental and synaptic genes contributing to its role in language, higher-order association processing, social cognition, and vulnerability to neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions.
Overview generated by GPT-4o (2026).
Region ID: 704
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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