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ArticlesAnatomyNeuroanatomyCerebrumCalcarine sulcus
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ArticlesAnatomyNeuroanatomyCerebrumCalcarine sulcus

Calcarine sulcus

Author: Christina Loukopoulou, MSc • Reviewer: Dimitrios Mytilinaios, MD, PhD
Last reviewed: May 16, 2024
Reading time: 1 minute

Recommended video: Medial view of the brain [38:16]
Structures seen on the medial view of the brain. The images show a midsagittal section of the brain.
Calcarine sulcus
Sulcus calcarinus
1/7
Synonyms: Calcarine fissure, Fissura calcarinus

The calcarine sulcus, also known as the calcarine fissure, is a deep sulcus of the brain, located on the medial surface of the occipital lobe. The term "calcarine" comes from the Latin word "calcar", which means spur.

It travels horizontally from the occipital lobe to meet the parieto-occipital sulcus just posterior to the venous junction of the great cerebral vein and the straight sinus.

The calcarine sulcus houses the primary visual cortex (Brodmann area 17). It is in this sulcus that visual stimuli from the optic tract end up. 

Located deep within the calcarine sulcus is the calcarine artery, a branch of the posterior cerebral artery, supplying the surrounding region.

Terminology English: Calcarine sulcus
Synonyms: Calcarine fissure

Latin: Sulcus calcarinus
Synonyms: Fissura calcarinus
Definition
 The calcarine sulcus is located on the medial surface of the occipital lobe and houses the primary visual cortex. 

Learn more about the different sulci in this study unit:

Medial view of the brain Explore study unit

Sources

All content published on Kenhub is reviewed by medical and anatomy experts. The information we provide is grounded on academic literature and peer-reviewed research. Kenhub does not provide medical advice. You can learn more about our content creation and review standards by reading our content quality guidelines.
  • Crossman, A.R., Neary, D. (2014). Neuroanatomy: An Illustrated Colour Text (5th ed.). Manchester, MCR: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.
  • Donkelaar, H.J. ten, Kachlík, D. and Tubbs, R.S. (2018) An illustrated Terminologia Neuroanatomica. A concise encyclopedia of human neuroanatomy. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
  • Moore, K. L., Dalley, A. F. and Agur, A. (2017). Clinically oriented anatomy (8th ed.). Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
  • Standring, S. (2016). Gray's Anatomy (41st ed.). Edinburgh: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.

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