The left planum temporale is a triangular cortical region located on the superior surface of the temporal lobe, posterior to Heschl’s gyrus and forming part of the superior temporal gyrus within the Sylvian fissure. It is typically larger in the left hemisphere than in the right, a structural asymmetry associated with hemispheric specialization for language. Cytoarchitectonically, it contains portions of auditory association cortex involved in higher-order processing of complex sounds, including phonological analysis and aspects of speech perception. The left planum temporale is functionally linked to language-dominant networks, and its morphometry has been studied in relation to developmental language disorders, schizophrenia, and reading disabilities such as dyslexia. No direct link: related structure Planum temporale.
The left planum temporale, a key language-related region defined in the brainCOLOR atlas, shows robust genetic influences on its surface area, cortical thickness, and asymmetry, with twin and SNP-heritability estimates typically in the moderate range (h² ≈ 0.3–0.6) from large neuroimaging genetics consortia such as ENIGMA and UK Biobank-based studies. GWAS on cortical structure and asymmetry have identified multiple loci associated with left planum temporale morphology, including variants near genes involved in neurodevelopment, axon guidance, and synaptic function (e.g., microtubule- and cell-adhesion–related genes), though individual loci often show modest effect sizes and require replication. Genetically influenced variation in left planum temporale asymmetry has been associated with language-related traits, such as reading ability and phonological processing, and with neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions that frequently involve language or auditory processing differences, including dyslexia, specific language impairment, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, and ADHD, often via polygenic overlap rather than single, region-specific variants. Additionally, polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression have been linked to structural variation in temporal language areas including the planum temporale, suggesting shared genetic architectures between psychiatric liability and left temporal cortical organization.
Overview generated by GPT-4o (2026).
Region ID: 101
Hemisphere: Left
Atlas: brainCOLOR
Full Quality Version: Download MP4
Full Quality Version: Download MP4
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).