Editing Precuneus (section)

{{Short description|Region of the parietal lobe of the brain}}

{{Infobox brain
| Name            = Precuneus
| Latin           = praecuneus
| Image           = Sobo 1909 624 - Precuneus.png
| Caption         = Medial surface of left cerebral hemisphere. (Precuneus visible at top left.) (Anterior to the right.)
| Image2          = Precuneus.png
| Caption2        = [[Sagittal plane|Sagittal]] MRI slice with the precuneus shown in red. (Anterior to the left.)
| IsPartOf        =
| Components      =
| Artery          =
| Vein            =
}}

In [[neuroanatomy]], the '''precuneus''' is the portion of the [[superior parietal lobule]] on the [[Anatomical terms of location#Medial_and_lateral|medial]] surface of each brain [[cerebral hemisphere|hemisphere]]. It is located in front of the [[cuneus]] (the upper portion of the [[occipital lobe]]). The precuneus is bounded in front by the [[marginal sulcus|marginal branch]] of the [[cingulate sulcus]], at the rear by the [[parieto-occipital sulcus]], and underneath by the [[subparietal sulcus]]. It is involved with [[episodic memory]], [[visuospatial]] processing, reflections upon [[Self (psychology)|self]], and aspects of [[consciousness]].

The location of the precuneus makes it difficult to study. Furthermore, it is rarely subject to isolated injury due to [[stroke]]s, or trauma such as gunshot wounds. This has resulted in it being "one of the less accurately mapped areas of the whole cortical surface".<ref name="Cavanna06"/>  While originally described as homogeneous by [[Korbinian Brodmann]], it is now appreciated to contain three subdivisions.<ref name="Margulies"/>

It is also known after [[Achille-Louis Foville]] as the ''quadrate lobule of Foville''.<ref name="Cavanna06">{{cite journal |vauthors=Cavanna A, Trimble M |title=The precuneus: a review of its functional anatomy and behavioural correlates |journal=Brain |volume=129 |issue=Pt 3 |pages=564–83 |year=2006 |pmid=16399806 |doi=10.1093/brain/awl004 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Cavanna"/><ref>Foville AL. (1844). Traité complêt de l’anatomie, de la physiologie et de la pathologie du système nerveux cérébro-spinal. Paris, France: Fortin, Masson</ref> The Latin form of {{lang|la|praecuneus}} was first used in 1868 and the English ''precuneus'' in 1879.<ref>[[Oxford English Dictionary]], ''Precuneus''.</ref>