Brodmann area 6

Brodmann area 6
Details
Identifiers
Latin	Area frontalis agranularis
NeuroLex ID	Brodmann area 6
FMA	68602
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy [edit on Wikidata]

Brodmann area 6 is part of the brain.

Human

Brodmann area 6 (BA6) part of the frontal cortex in the human brain. Situated just anterior to the primary motor cortex (BA4), it is composed of the premotor cortex and, medially, the supplementary motor area, or SMA. This large area of the frontal cortex is believed to play a role in the planning of complex, coordinated movements.

Brodmann area 6 is also called agranular frontal area 6 in humans because it lacks an internal granular cortical layer (layer IV). It is a subdivision of the cytoarchitecturally defined precentral region of cerebral cortex. In the human brain, it is located on the portions of the precentral gyrus that are not occupied by the gigantopyramidal area 4; furthermore, BA6 extends onto the caudal portions of the superior frontal and middle frontal gyri. It extends from the cingulate sulcus on the medial aspect of the hemisphere to the lateral sulcus on the lateral aspect. It is bounded rostrally by the granular frontal region and caudally by the gigantopyramidal area 4 (Brodmann, 1909).^[1]

Guenon

Brodmann area 6 is a cytoarchitecturally defined portion of the frontal lobe of the guenon. Brodmann-1909 regarded it as topographically and cytoarchitecturally homologous to the human agranular frontal area 6 and noted that, in the monkey, area 4 is larger than area 6, whereas, in the human, area 6 is larger than area 4. Distinctive features (Brodmann-1905): It is thick relative to other cortical areas; the transition from cortex to subcortical white matter is gradual; cell layers are indistinct; and the internal granular layer (IV) is absent.^[2]

Image

• 
  Animation.
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  front view.
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  Lateral view.
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  Medial view.

See also

• Brodmann area
• List of regions in the human brain
• Korbinian Brodmann

References

1.  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 3.0 license. Archived September 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
2.  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 3.0 license. Archived December 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

• ancil-41 at NeuroNames – agranular frontal area 6
• ancil-1044 at NeuroNames – Brodmann area 6