Summary

This is an area that helps to categorise objects. There is also an indication that this area is involved in creativity.

Function

This area plays a role in higher visual processes, and also in recognising objects from memory. A birdwatcher looking into the garden might say "look, there's a crow, a robin and a house sparrow". A child, on the other hand, is likely to say 'look, birds'. Cells in this brain area are responsible for representing objects, which makes recognition possible for the birdwatcher. These neurons are particularly sensitive to the characteristics that distinguish different birds.

Location

BA 20 is located in the temporal cortex, and is also called the inferior temporal gyrus.

Fact:

A link has been found between creativity and activity in this area. In this study creative people (artists, researchers, technicians, philosophers, etc.) were compared with people who scored average on a creativity task. Increased activity was found in several brain areas in creative people, and BA 20 is one of these areas.

Patients

Damage to BA 20 and BA 21 can lead to anomia. This is a specific form of aphasia (a broad term for speech problems), in which it is difficult to come up with certain words. In the case of damage to BA 20, it is difficult to place objects in a certain category. The person often knows that an apple and a banana are both fruit and that you can eat them, but he or she cannot name them.

Author: Myrthe Princen (translated by Thomas von Rein)
Image: Marcel Loeffen