page_title: Inferior temporal gyrus
section_title: Cerebral Achromatopsia
hierarchical_section_title: Inferior temporal gyrus / Clinical significance / Cerebral Achromatopsia
caption_attribution_description: English: Bilateral achromatopsia vs. normal vision
context_page_description: The inferior temporal gyrus is one of three gyri of the temporal lobe and is located below the middle temporal gyrus, connected behind with the inferior occipital gyrus; it also extends around the infero-lateral border on to the inferior surface of the temporal lobe, where it is limited by the inferior sulcus. This region is one of the higher levels of the ventral stream of visual processing, associated with the representation of objects, places, faces, and colors. It may also be involved in face perception, and in the recognition of numbers.
  The inferior temporal gyrus is the anterior region of the temporal lobe located underneath the central temporal sulcus. The primary function of the occipital temporal gyrus – otherwise referenced as IT cortex – is associated with visual stimuli processing, namely visual object recognition, and has been suggested by recent experimental results as the final location of the ventral cortical visual system. The IT cortex in humans is also known as the Inferior Temporal Gyrus since it has been located to a specific region of the human temporal lobe.
context_section_description: Cerebral achromatopsia is a medical disorder characterized by the inability to perceive color and to achieve satisfactory visual acuity in high light levels. Congenital achromatopsia is characterized the same way, however it is genetic, while Cerebral Achromatopsia occurs as a result of damage to certain parts of the brain. One part of the brain that is particularly integral to color discrimination is the inferior temporal gyrus. A 1995 study conducted by Heywood et al. was meant to highlight the parts of the brain that are important in achromatopsia in monkeys, however, it obviously sheds light on the areas of the brain related to achromatopsia in humans. In the study, one group of monkeys (group AT) received lesions in the temporal lobe anterior to V4 and the other group (group MOT) received lesions to the occipito-temporal area that corresponds in cranial location to the lesion that produces cerebral achromatopsia in humans. The study concluded that group MOT had no impairment of their color vision while the subjects in group AT all had severe impairments to their color vision, consistent with humans diagnosed with cerebral achromatopsia.  This study shows that temporal lobe areas anterior to V4, which includes the inferior temporal gyrus, play a large role in patients with Cerebral Achromatopsia.
caption: An example of vision in a person with cerebral achromatopsia.
exif: {}