Calcarine sulcus

The calcarine sulcus is a sulcus of the median occipital lobe.

Anatomy

The calcarine sulcus begins above the splenium of the corpus callosum and separates caudally the isthmus of the cingulate gyrus from the parahippocampal gyrus. The calcarine sulcus runs posteriorly as a gentle upward curve, from the apex of which the parieto-occipital sulcus emerges, which in turn anteriorly separates the occipital lobe on the medial surface of the cerebral hemisphere. Posteriorly, the calcarine sulcus may occasionally cross the superomedial margin and extend along the occipital pole to the superolateral surface of the cerebral hemisphere.

The point at which the parieto-occipital sulcus emerges divides the calcarine sulcus into a proximal and distal part. Superior to the proximal half of the calcarine sulcus and anterior to the parieto-occipital sulcus lies the precuneus, which is part of the parietal lobe. Superior to the distal part and posterior to the parieto-occipital sulcus is the cuneus[^1]. In the calcarine sulcus runs the calcarine branch of the medial occipital artery.

Figure

Imaging

Macroscopically and through imaging, the calcarine sulcus is best visualized in the midsagittal section of the brain.