Brodmann Area Map | Brain Regions Made Clear

A numbered cortical map divides the cerebrum into 52 regions by cell pattern, linking structure with vision, movement, language, and attention.

A Brodmann area map can look dense at first glance, then suddenly make the cortex feel easier to read. Instead of treating the brain’s outer layer as one broad sheet, it breaks the cerebral cortex into numbered zones based on cytoarchitecture, meaning how the cells are layered and arranged under the microscope.

That is why the map still shows up in neuroanatomy classes, imaging papers, and neurology notes. The numbers give people a shared shorthand. Say “area 17,” and you are near primary visual cortex. Say “areas 44 and 45,” and you are in the classic Broca region tied to speech production in the dominant hemisphere.

What A Brodmann Area Map Actually Shows

Korbinian Brodmann built his map in the early 1900s by comparing cortical tissue from region to region. He noticed that the cortex does not look identical from one fold to the next. Some parts have thicker granular layers. Some have larger pyramidal cells. Some look built for heavy input, while others look built for output or integration.

So the map is structural first, functional second. The numbers were not assigned because a region “thinks” or “moves.” They were assigned because the cell architecture looked distinct. Later work linked many of those numbered regions with recurring jobs like motor control, language, and vision.

A clean way to read the map is to treat it as a bridge between anatomy and function:

• Lobes give the neighborhood.
• Gyri and sulci give the surface landmarks.
• Brodmann numbers give the finer cortical parcel.

Why The Brodmann Area Map Still Matters In Practice

The map is old, but it has not faded away. Modern scanners can slice the cortex with far more detail than Brodmann ever had, yet his numbering still works as a shared language. That is handy when a paper reports activation in area 6, a neurologist localizes a lesion near area 22, or a student needs a stable way to connect structure with signs at the bedside.

It also keeps the labeling precise. A lobe name alone can be too broad. “Frontal lobe” spans a huge stretch of cortex. A Brodmann label narrows the target. That does not make the borders perfect, because human brains vary and modern atlases split some zones more finely. Still, the map remains a practical starting grid.

That grid fits well with NCBI’s overview of cortical structure, which lays out how the layered cortex differs from place to place, and with the University of Washington’s BrainInfo glossary for Brodmann’s areas, which catalogs the numbered regions across primate brain maps.

Common Regions On The Map

Most learners do better when the map is grouped by what a region is best known for. That does not mean each area does one thing only. The cortex is too connected for that. Still, the classic pairings below give you a way in.

Motor And Premotor Cortex

Area 4 is the primary motor cortex on the precentral gyrus. It drives voluntary movement. Area 6 sits just ahead of it and is tied to motor planning, including premotor and supplementary motor work. Area 8 is often linked with frontal eye fields, which help steer gaze.

Somatosensory Cortex

Areas 3, 1, and 2 line the postcentral gyrus. Together, they form the primary somatosensory cortex. Touch and proprioception are classic associations here, with orderly body mapping across the cortical strip.

Vision And Hearing

Area 17 is the primary visual cortex. Areas 18 and 19 carry more visual association work. In the temporal lobe, areas 41 and 42 are tied to primary auditory cortex, while area 22 is part of the classic receptive language network in the dominant hemisphere.

Language And Association Cortex

Areas 44 and 45 sit in the inferior frontal gyrus and are classically linked with Broca’s area. Areas 39 and 40, around the angular and supramarginal gyri, show up in language, reading, and multimodal integration. Frontal areas such as 9, 10, 11, and 46 are common shorthand for planning, working memory, and judgment.

Major Brodmann Areas And Their Classic Associations

The table below is not the whole cortex. It is the set most people meet first, and for good reason. These regions appear again and again in coursework, scans, and clinical localization.

Brodmann Area	Usual Location	Classic Association
4	Precentral gyrus	Primary motor output
6	Frontal lobe, ahead of area 4	Premotor and supplementary motor planning
8	Upper frontal regions	Frontal eye fields
3, 1, 2	Postcentral gyrus	Primary somatosensory cortex
17	Occipital lobe near calcarine sulcus	Primary visual cortex
18, 19	Occipital association cortex	Visual interpretation
41, 42	Temporal auditory region	Primary auditory processing
22	Posterior temporal gyrus	Speech comprehension, classically
44, 45	Inferior frontal gyrus	Speech production, classically
39, 40	Inferior parietal lobule	Reading, language, multimodal integration
9, 10, 11, 46	Prefrontal cortex	Planning, working memory, judgment

How To Read The Numbers Without Getting Lost

Start with the central sulcus. It divides the precentral gyrus in front from the postcentral gyrus behind. That one landmark separates primary motor cortex from primary somatosensory cortex. From there, move backward to the occipital lobe for visual cortex and downward to the upper temporal plane for auditory cortex.

Next, check whether the map shows a lateral surface, a medial surface, or both. New readers often mix them up. Area 17, for one, is strongly tied to the medial occipital surface near the calcarine sulcus, so it can look oddly placed if you only expect a side view.

Then attach a few anchor pairs to stable landmarks:

• 4 = precentral gyrus = primary motor cortex
• 3, 1, 2 = postcentral gyrus = primary somatosensory cortex
• 17 = occipital cortex = primary vision
• 44, 45 = inferior frontal gyrus = classic Broca region
• 22 = posterior temporal cortex = classic Wernicke region

That classic language pairing lines up with NCBI’s cerebral cortex review, which places Broca’s area in areas 44 and 45 and describes the dominant temporal region involved in receptive language. Once those anchors are firm, the other numbers stop feeling random.

Where The Map Gets Messy

A Brodmann area map is useful, but it is not a perfect one-number-one-job chart. Brain work is distributed. Borders vary from person to person. Some functions rely on networks that span several areas at once, not a single cortical parcel.

Language is a good example. Classic teaching points to Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, and those labels still help. But speech and comprehension draw on wider frontal, temporal, parietal, and subcortical circuits. The same caution applies to attention, memory, reading, and social cognition. The map gives you a reliable shorthand, not the last word.

It also helps to know that modern atlases may split regions more finely or define them with different methods, such as connectivity, receptor patterns, or imaging data. So when two sources do not match perfectly, that does not mean one is broken. It usually means the cortex can be parceled in more than one valid way.

Brodmann Area Map By Lobe

If you prefer a top-down view, this lobe-based summary keeps the map tidy. It will not capture every area, but it gives a strong mental layout before you start memorizing numbers.

Lobe	Common Areas	Often Linked With
Frontal	4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 44, 45, 46, 47	Movement, eye movements, speech output, planning
Parietal	1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 39, 40, 43	Touch, spatial processing, reading-related integration
Temporal	20, 21, 22, 37, 38, 41, 42	Hearing, language, object and face-related processing
Occipital	17, 18, 19	Primary and association vision
Limbic and medial cortex	23, 24, 25, 31, 32, 33	Cingulate functions, drive, affect-related processing

Best Way To Study The Map

Use layers, not brute force. Learn the surface landmarks first. Then lock in the high-yield anchors. Then add neighboring numbers in small groups. Many people retain the map better when they sketch it by hand than when they stare at a crowded atlas page.

Study order:

1. Mark the central sulcus, lateral sulcus, and calcarine sulcus.
2. Place areas 4 and 3, 1, 2 around the central sulcus.
3. Add area 17 in the occipital cortex.
4. Add areas 41, 42, and 22 in the temporal region.
5. Place areas 44 and 45 in the inferior frontal gyrus.
6. Then branch out into prefrontal, parietal association, and medial areas.

Once you study it that way, a Brodmann area map stops being a wall of numbers. It turns into a practical coordinate system for the cortex. That is why it shows up in textbooks and scan reports.