Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
occipital gyrus

occipital gyrus

9.9
A raised fold at the back of the brain that helps process what you see
  • noun
  • /ɑːkˈsɪpɪtəl ˈdʒaɪrəs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : giro occipital
  • Researchers examined brain scans focusing on changes in the right occipital gyrus.

Examples

  • The occipital gyrus is crucial for visual processing.

  • The visual cortex is located in the occipital gyrus of the brain.

  • Damage to the occipital gyrus can affect a person's ability to process visual information.

  • Many researchers study the occipital gyri to understand vision.

  • The inferior occipital gyrus helps us recognize faces by processing visual information in the brain.

  • She studied the structure of the occipital gyrus to understand how visual perception occurs.

  • Damage to the occipital gyrus can lead to difficulties in recognizing visual stimuli.

Surface Forms

occipital gyrus singular
occipital gyri plural

Morphology

occipital + gyrus

The meaning is directly compositional: 'occipital' locates something in the back/occipital region of the skull/brain and 'gyrus' denotes a brain fold, so together they denote a fold/ridge in the occipital lobe. Although anatomical terms are technical and less frequent, the overall sense is predictable from the constituents, so a learner who knows both words would understand it.

Etymology

Occipital gyrus comes from Latin and Greek words: occipital means 'back of the head' and gyrus means 'ridge'. The name paints a simple picture of a folded ridge at the back of the brain where the visual area is, so it points to the part that helps process sight.