The parietal lobe sits between the frontal lobe (anterior) and occipital lobe (posterior), and above the temporal lobe. It integrates somatosensory input with visual and proprioceptive signals to build a coherent representation of body position in space.
The primary Somatosensory Cortex occupies the postcentral gyrus and is somatotopically organized (the homunculus). The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is more integrative, feeding into the Dorsal Pathway for visuospatial action.
Structure and Function
The anterior region (S1) processes raw tactile information from the body. The posterior parietal cortex integrates sensory streams and is critical for spatial reasoning and guiding goal-directed movement.