<P> The middle cranial fossa, deeper than the anterior cranial fossa, is narrow medially and widens laterally to the sides of the skull . It is separated from the posterior fossa by the clivus and the petrous crest . </P> <P> It is bounded in front by the posterior margins of the lesser wings of the sphenoid bone, the anterior clinoid processes, and the ridge forming the anterior margin of the chiasmatic groove; behind, by the superior angles of the petrous portions of the temporal bones and the dorsum sellæ; laterally by the temporal squamæ, sphenoidal angles of the parietals, and greater wings of the sphenoid . It is traversed by the squamosal, sphenoparietal, sphenosquamosal, and sphenopetrosal sutures . </P> <P> It houses the temporal lobes of the brain and the pituitary gland . A middle fossa craniotomy is one means to surgically remove acoustic neuromas (vestibular schwannoma) growing within the internal auditory canal of the temporal bone . </P> <P> The middle part of the fossa presents, in front, the chiasmatic groove and tuberculum sellae; the chiasmatic groove ends on either side at the optic foramen, which transmits the optic nerve and ophthalmic artery to the orbital cavity . </P>

What part of the brain occupies the middle cranial fossa