To establish the link between structure and function of any large area of the neocortex, it is helpful to identify its principles of organisation. One way to establish such principles is to investigate how differences in whole-brain connectivity are structured across the area. Here, we use Laplacian eigenmaps on diffusion MRI tractography data to investigate the organisational principles of the human temporal association cortex. We identify three overlapping gradients of connectivity that are, for the large part, consistent across hemispheres: The first gradient reveals an inferior-superior organisation of predominantly longitudinal tracts and separates visual and auditory unimodal and multimodal cortex. The second gradient radiates outward from the posterior middle temporal cortex with the arcuate fascicle as a distinguishing feature with the third gradient being concentrated in the anterior temporal lobe and emanating towards its posterior end. We describe the functional relevance of each of these gradients through meta-analysis of data from the neuroimaging literature. Together, these results unravel the overlapping dimensions of structural organization of the human temporal cortex and provide a framework underlying its functional multiplicit
