In males, the inferior parietal lobule is significantly more voluminous in the left hemisphere compared to the right. This extreme asymmetry is not present in females, and may contribute to slight cognitive variations of both sexes.[2]
In macaque neuroanatomy, this region is often divided into caudal and rostral portions, cIPL and rIPL, respectively. The cIPL is further divided into areas Opt and PG whereas rIPL is divided into PFG and PF areas.[3]
Functional imaging experiments suggest that the left anterior supramarginal gyrus (aSMG) of the human inferior parietal lobule exhibits an evolved specialization related to tool use. It is not currently known if this functional specialization is unique to humans as complementary experiments have only been performed with macaque monkeys and not apes. The habitual use of tools by chimpanzees makes the uniqueness of the human aSMG an open question as its function may have evolved prior to the split from our last common ancestor.[6]
Additional images
Animation. Inferior parietal lobule is shown in red.
Lateral view of a human brain, main gyri labeled.
Cerebrum. Lateral view. Deep dissection.
Cerebrum. Lateral view. Deep dissection.
Cerebrum. Lateral view. Deep dissection.
Inferior parietal lobule, right hemisphere view.
Inferior parietal lobule highlighted in green on coronal T1 MRI images
Inferior parietal lobule highlighted in green on sagittal T1 MRI images
Inferior parietal lobule highlighted in green on transversal T1 MRI images