Pars opercularis
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| Brain: Pars opercularis | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lateral surface of left cerebral hemisphere, viewed from the side. (Pars opercularis visible near center). | ||
| Brodmann area 44 | ||
| Latin | pars opercularis gyri frontalis inferioris | |
| Part of | Inferior frontal gyrus Broca's area | |
| Artery | Middle cerebral | |
| Acronym(s) | OpIFG | |
| NeuroNames | hier-69 | |
| Dorlands/Elsevier | p_07/12617331 | |
Pars opercularis (literally "the part that covers") is the part of the inferior frontal gyrus that lies between the inferior precentral sulcus and the ascending ramus of the lateral sulcus. It is called opercularis because it covers part of the insula. The pars opercularis together with the pars triangularis form Broca's area.
Relationship to autism
Abnormal blood flow in the Pars opercularis has been shown to be an indicator for autism. Previous theories had tied autism to abnormalities in the cerebellum, due to the fascination with spinning exhibited by autistic children. 1
- "Neuroscientist Mirella Dapretto of the University of California Los Angeles and her colleagues surveyed the brains of 10 autistic children and an equal number of nonautistic children as they watched and imitated 80 different faces displaying either anger, fear, happiness, sadness or no emotion. By measuring the amount of blood flow (Blood-oxygen-level dependent) to certain regions of the childrens' brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology, the researchers could determine what parts of the brain were being used as the subjects completed the tasks. The autistic children differed from their peers in only one respect: each showed reduced activity in the pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus--a brain region located near the temple." 2
See also
de:Gyrus frontalis inferior
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
