Brodmann Area 22:A Brief Review of the Literature – Part 3

Brodmann Area 22, Derived from Gray’s Anatomy 20th Edition 1918 Lithograph Reproduction, Public Domain

The brain is a complex structure and but can be organised according to several principles. One approach is to characterise the brain regions according to the microscopic properties of these regions.  More specifically the neurons are organised differently between regions. Some regions may contain unique types of neurons. This approach to understanding the organisation of the brain was proposed by the German Neuropathologist Korbinian Brodmann and resulted in the eponymously named Brodmann Area. There are 52 areas in all and I have covered other Brodmann Areas elsewhere in this Blog. This is the third in a series on one of these areas – Brodmann Area 22. A simple search strategy was adopted. The term ‘Brodmann Area 22′ was used to search in Medline using the PubMed interface. Relevant results were identified and included.

In an intraoperative study involving people with epilepsy undergoing functional neurosurgery, the researchers used depth electrodes to record from multiple areas including Brodmann Area 22 (BA22). These areas represented the Primary Auditory Cortex and Association cortices. The researchers found that responses to sinusoidal modulated white noise were observed in these areas in both series and parallel processing streams suggesting a high degree of interactivity between these regions. In a small study, researchers compared subjects with REM sleep disorder with a control group using (99m)Tc-Ethylene Cysteinate Dimer (ECD) SPECT. In the REM sleep disorder group they found decreased activity in BA22 amongst several other areas relative to the control group. In an fMRI study, researchers examined the effects of age on semantic processing in children and adolescents aged 9-15. The researchers found that when undertaking semantic tasks in response to visual presentations, younger age was associated with increased use of BA22. The converse was true for the left BA21 as well as for BA40 (paper freely available here). In an immunohistochemical study, the researchers in this study found evidence for a peak concentration of Glyoxalase I in BA22 at age 55 and hypothesise that this is a response to a build-up of age-related advanced glycation products (AGE’s).

Appendix

Brodmann Area 22: A Brief Review of the Literature – Part 1

Brodmann Area 22: A Brief Review of the Literature – Part 2

An index of the site can be found here. The page contains links to all of the articles in the blog in chronological order. Twitter: You can follow ‘The Amazing World of Psychiatry’ Twitter by clicking on this link. Podcast: You can listen to this post on Odiogo by clicking on this link (there may be a small delay between publishing of the blog article and the availability of the podcast). It is available for a limited period. TAWOP Channel: You can follow the TAWOP Channel on YouTube by clicking on this link. Responses: If you have any comments, you can leave them below or alternatively e-mail justinmarley17@yahoo.co.uk. Disclaimer: The comments made here represent the opinions of the author and do not represent the profession or any body/organisation. The comments made here are not meant as a source of medical advice and those seeking medical advice are advised to consult with their own doctor. The author is not responsible for the contents of any external sites that are linked to in this blog.