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Topic

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Cuneus

The cuneus is a wedge-shaped region of the occipital lobe on the medial surface of the brain, situated above the calcarine sulcus and below the parieto-occipital sulcus. It plays an essential role in basic visual processing and interpretation. The cuneus is best visualized in midsagittal brain sections and is an important landmark in neuroimaging and neuroanatomy.

Synonyms

  • Cuneate lobe

  • Cuneate gyrus

Arterial Supply

  • Primary supply: Calcarine branch of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA)

  • Secondary supply: Parieto-occipital branch of the PCA

Venous Drainage

  • Drains primarily into the superior sagittal sinus via the superior cerebral veins

  • Also contributes to the internal cerebral veins

Function

  • Involved in visual processing, particularly the lower quadrant of the contralateral visual field

  • Plays a role in visual attention, spatial orientation, and integration of visual information

MRI Appearance

  • T1-weighted images:

    • Appears as intermediate (gray matter) signal intensity relative to white matter

    • Clear differentiation from surrounding occipital white matter

  • T2-weighted images:

    • Shows higher signal intensity than white matter (typical for cortical gray matter)

    • Well-defined gray-white differentiation

  • FLAIR images:

    • Cuneus maintains the typical gray matter appearance

    • Pathology such as demyelination, infarct, or gliosis appears hyperintense

CT Appearance

  • Non-contrast CT:

    • Gray matter of the cuneus is slightly denser (higher attenuation) than white matter

    • Appears as a well-demarcated region above the calcarine fissure

    • Pathological changes (e.g., infarction) will present as loss of gray-white differentiation or hypodensity

MRI images

Cuneus mri 3t axial image

MRI images

Cuneus mri 3t sagittal image

CT image

Cuneus CT sagittal anatomy image -img-00001-00001