The term area 3b of Vogts refers to an area of the cerebral cortex originally defined on the basis of myeloarchitecture and cytoarchitecture in the guenon. It represented the portion of area 3 of Brodmann (guenon) that Brodmann regarded as transitional to area 4 of Brodmann (guenon). The Vogts distinguished it as one of two subdivisions of area 3. The other was area 3a of Vogts ( Vogts-1919 ). 'Area 3b' continues to be the most common name for the structure. It is now recognized as differing from 3a not only in architecture but by its input, which comes primarily from skin receptors, its output caudally and reciprocally to area 1 of Brodmann ( guenon ), area 2 of Brodmann (guenon) and the second somatosensory area and its more direct involvement in sensory functions than 3a. Functionally it is a subdivision of the somatosensory cortex. It is considered equivalent to area 3b in the human and the macaque ( Kaas-2004 ).