Anatomy
A gyrus located posterior to the central sulcus. It extends anteroinferiorly from the great longitudinal fissure and ends just above the lateral sulcus. It forms part of the parietal lobe.
Blood supply:
Supplied by the middle cerebral artery, and medially by the anterior cerebral artery, to a lesser extent.
Functions
Is the location of the the primary somatosensory cortex, which is involved in sensation on the opposite side of the body. The body is represented on the postcentral gyrus as a somatotopic sensory map. The foot and lower limb occupy the medial aspect of the gyrus while hand, upper limb, torso, neck and head occupy the lateral aspect. The area of postcentral gyrus devoted to a particular body region is proportional to the degree of somatosensory input from that region e.g. the lips area is considerably larger than arm area.
Clinical
Lesions of the postcentral gyrus can cause contralateral hemisensory loss.
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