The temporal lobe has two important sulci running roughly horizontally and parallel to the Sylvian fissure. They divide the temporal lobe into three gyri: the Superior Temporal Gyrus, the Middle Temporal Gyrus, and the Inferior Temporal Gyrus. The last is considerably larger than you might suppose just from looking at the usual side view of the cortex since its lower surface extends deep inside the skull.
The temporal lobe is very important for language. The area for phonological recognition is mostly in the superior temporal gyrus, and adjacent portions of the temporal lobe seem to play a large role in managing lexical and semantic information.
© 2000 Rice University. This document, or any portion hereof, may be used for non-commercial informational purposes only. Any copy of this document, or portion hereof, must include the copyright notice (http://www.rice.edu/about/cr-notice.html) in its entirety.
