Superior geniculocalcarine tract
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Lisik J, Hacking C, Knipe H, et al. Superior geniculocalcarine tract. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 07 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-53054
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rID:
53054
Article created:
1 May 2017,
James Lisik
Disclosures:
At the time the article was created James Lisik had no recorded disclosures.
View James Lisik's current disclosures
Last revised:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Craig Hacking had the following disclosures:
- Philips Australia, Paid speaker at Philips Spectral CT events (ongoing)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Craig Hacking's current disclosures
Revisions:
10 times, by
5 contributors -
see full revision history and disclosures
Systems:
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Synonyms:
- Superior optic radiation
The superior geniculocalcarine tract or superior optic radiation is the dorsal/posterior/superior fibers of the optic radiation. These superior fibers pass dorsally and posteriorly from the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus through the retrolentiform internal capsule and parietal lobe to the superior margin of the calcarine sulcus (specifically the lingual gyrus of the occipital lobe). This region forms part of the primary visual cortex.
Related pathology
Damage to this pathway on the left can result in a homonymous lower right visual field quadrantanopia, a.k.a. "pie-in-the-floor defect".
History and etymology
In several peer-reviewed articles and textbooks, this structure is known by the eponym "Baum's loop" 3,4, which originated after a then medical student edited Wikipedia in 2009 naming the structure after themselves 5.
References
- 1. Last, R. J., McMinn, R. M. H.. Last's Anatomy, Regional and Applied. (1994) ISBN: 044304662X - Google Books
- 2. Kamali A, Hasan K, Adapa P et al. Distinguishing and Quantification of the Human Visual Pathways Using High-Spatial-Resolution Diffusion Tensor Tractography. Magn Reson Imaging. 2014;32(7):796-803. doi:10.1016/j.mri.2014.04.002 - Pubmed
- 3. Párraga R, Ribas G, Welling L, Alves R, de Oliveira E. Microsurgical Anatomy of the Optic Radiation and Related Fibers in 3-Dimensional Images. Neurosurgery. 2012;71(1 Suppl Operative):160-71; discussion 171. doi:10.1227/NEU.0b013e3182556fde - Pubmed
- 4. Peter Brennan, Susan Standring, Sam Wiseman. Gray's Surgical Anatomy E-Book. (2019) ISBN: 9780702073885 - Google Books
- 5. Knipe H, Bell D, Gaillard F. Letter to the Editor: The Origin of “Baum’s Loop”. Surg Radiol Anat. 2020;43(2):307. doi:10.1007/s00276-020-02587-4 - Pubmed
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Related articles: Anatomy: Brain
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brain
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cerebrum
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cerebral hemisphere (telencephalon)
- cerebral lobes and gyri
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occipital lobe
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- lingual gyrus
- fusiform gyrus (Brodmann area 37)
- calcarine (visual) cortex
- cuneus
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cerebral sulci and fissures (A-Z)
- calcarine fissure
- callosal sulcus
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