Postcentral gyrus#Postcentral gyrus

{{Short description|Region of the parietal lobe of the brain}}

{{Infobox brain

| Name = Postcentral gyrus

| Latin = gyrus postcentralis

| Image = postcentral gyrus.png

| Caption = Postcentral gyrus of the human brain

| Image2 = ba1_2_3.png

| Caption2 = Brodmann areas 3, 1, and 2 of human brain. Brodmann area 3 is in red, area 1 in green, and area 2 in yellow.

| Artery =Middle cerebral artery

|System = Somatosensory system

|Function = Primary somatosensory cortex

|Location = Parietal lobe

}}

In neuroanatomy, the postcentral gyrus is a prominent gyrus in the lateral parietal lobe of the human brain. It is the location of the primary somatosensory cortex, the main sensory receptive area for the sense of touch. Like other sensory areas, there is a map of sensory space in this location, called the sensory homunculus.

The primary somatosensory cortex was initially defined from surface stimulation studies of Wilder Penfield, and parallel surface potential studies of Bard, Woolsey, and Marshall. Although initially defined to be roughly the same as Brodmann areas 3, 1, and 2, more recent work by Kaas has suggested that for homogeny with other sensory fields only area 3 should be referred to as "primary somatosensory cortex", as it receives the bulk of the thalamocortical projections from the sensory input fields{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}.