Which artery supplies the most regions of the brain including the frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes?

• A. Anterior cerebral artery
• B. Middle cerebral artery
• C. Posterior cerebral artery
• D. Basilar artery

Answer: (B)

The main idea is cortical blood supply territories. The middle cerebral artery covers the largest lateral expanse of the cortex, feeding much of the frontal lobe (including areas for movement and planning), the parietal lobe (somatosensory regions), and the temporal lobe (auditory areas and language regions in the dominant hemisphere). Because of this broad reach across multiple lobes, it supplies more regions of the cortex than the other major arteries. The anterior cerebral artery mainly irrigates the medial surfaces of the frontal and parietal lobes, not the wide lateral expanse; the posterior cerebral artery chiefly supplies the occipital lobe and parts of the temporal lobe; and the basilar artery feeds brainstem and cerebellum rather than large cortical areas. So, the artery with the broadest cortical territory across these lobes is the middle cerebral artery.