Left Arcuate Fascicle

3D Model

This is your left arcuate fascicle modeled in a glass brain.

The arcuate fasciculus (AF) is a bundle of axons that connects the Broca’s area and the Wernicke’s area in the brain. It is an association fiber tract connecting caudal temporal cortex and inferior frontal lobe.

The Dual-Stream model of language proposes that there are two streams by which the brain processes language information: the dorsal and ventral streams. The dorsal pathway consists of multiple fiber tracts, one of which is the arcuate fasciculus. The dorsal pathway as a whole is implicated in sensory-to-motor mapping and processing complex syntax.

Syntax refers to a set of rules by which we order words within a language. As the arcuate fasciculus matures and undergoes myelination, there is an increase in the ability to process syntax. Lesions in the arcuate fasciculus often result in difficulties with syntax.

Arcuate fasicle damage results in:Conduction aphasia, Tone deafness, Stuttering, Specific Language Impairment, Dyslexia