Fusiform gyrus

The fusiform gyrus is part of the temporal lobe. It is also known as the (discontinuous) occipitotemporal gyrus.

Function
There is still some dispute over the functionalities of this area, but there's relative consensus on these four:
 * 1) processing of color information
 * 2) face and body recognition (see Fusiform face area)
 * 3) word recognition
 * 4) number recognition
 * 5) abstraction

Some researchers believe that the fusiform gyrus may be related to the disorder known as prosopagnosia, or face blindness.

Police inspector Beate Lønn in the Harry Hole detective series by Jo Nesbø is supposed to have a well developed gyrus, explaining why she has an outstanding way to recognize the villains from surveillance cameras and police photos.

Function in Synaesthetes
Recent research has seen activation of the fusiform gyrus during subjective grapheme-color perception in people with Synaesthesia.