What makes up cerebral cortex

It is also responsible for higher thought processes including speech and decision making. The cortex is divided into four different lobes, the frontal , parietal , temporal , and occipital , which are each responsible for processing different types of sensory information. Over time, the human cortex undergoes a process of corticalization, or wrinkling of the cortex.

The frontal lobes are believed to be where our emotions and behaviors are controlled, so are activated when in social situations so that we may act socially appropriately.

Moreover, the frontal lobes are thought to be the home of where our personalities are kept, as well as where our intelligence is housed. The occipital lobes , located at the rear of the brain receive sensory information from the retinas of the eyes. This information is then encoded into different visual data such as color, motion, and orientation. This region is also responsible for object and face recognition, assessing depth and distance, as well as being able to map the visual world.

It is now known this region serves other functions and is able to communicate with other brain regions. The parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex are situated between the frontal and occipital lobes, above the temporal lobes.

The parietal lobes allow us to perceive our bodies and integrate somatosensory information such as touch, pressure, and temperature. This area can also allow us to coordinate our movements in response to the environment through spatial mapping and attentional functions. The temporal lobes , which are the second largest lobe of the cerebral cortex, are associated with memory, hearing, emotion, and some aspects of language.

The left temporal lobe, which is usually the most dominant in people, is associated with comprehending language, memorizing verbal information, forming speech, and learning.

The right lobe, however, is associated with memorizing non-verbal information, recognizing information, and determining facial expressions. The temporal lobes depend on both sensory input from the environment, as well as input from other brain regions.

These lobes can convert sounds heard into visual images in the brain, therefore being vital in processing auditory information. We would not be able to understand someone talking to us without temporal lobe functioning to help us make sense of language. The cerebral cortex can be characterised as being made up of three types of divisions, which serve different purposes: sensory, motor, and association areas.

The sensory areas of the cerebral cortex receive sensory information from the senses and environmental stimuli. This information is also processed by the sensory areas to give meaning to this information. The sensory areas include the visual cortex, the somatosensory cortex, the auditory cortex, and the gustatory cortex. The visual cortex is an area within the occipital lobes which is essential to the conscious processing of visual stimuli.

There are two visual cortices in the brain: the cortex in the left hemisphere receives signals from the right visual field, whereas the cortex in the right hemisphere receives signals from the left visual field.

The visual cortex is important for making sense of visual information and plays a role in object recognition and representation. The somatosensory cortex is located with the parietal lobe and receives tactile information from the body. The auditory cortex is an area within the temporal lobes which is responsible for processing auditory information. This cortex can perform basic and higher functions relating to hearing, including the ability for some people to language switch.

Finally, the gustatory cortex is a region in the frontal lobe which is responsible for the perception of taste and flavor. The motor areas of the cerebral cortex are involved in the regulation and initiation of voluntary movement. These areas are primarily found within the frontal lobes and include the primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, and the supplementary cortex. The primary motor cortex is associated with the coordination and initiation of motor movements.

Each cerebral hemisphere of the primary motor cortex contains a motor-related representation of the opposite side of the body. There is also a representational map of the body with the primary motor cortex, called a motor homunculus. The premotor cortex is involved in preparing and executing limb movements, as well as using information from other regions of the cortex to select appropriate movements.

The premotor cortex is also necessary for learning, especially through imitation, and social cognition, specifically empathy.

The supplementary cortex is responsible for the planning of complex movements and contributes to the control of movement. The occipital lobe is involved in the sense of sight; lesions in this area can produce hallucinations. The temporal lobe is a region of the cerebral cortex located beneath the lateral fissure on both cerebral hemispheres of the mammalian brain.

The temporal lobes are involved in many functions, such as retaining visual memories, processing sensory input, comprehending language, storing new memories, feeling and expressing emotion, and deriving meaning.

The temporal lobe contains the hippocampus and plays a key role in the formation of explicit long-term memory, modulated by the amygdala. It is involved in the senses of smell and sound as well as in processing of complex stimuli. Adjacent areas in the superior, posterior, and lateral parts of the temporal lobes are involved in high-level auditory processing.

The temporal lobe is involved in primary auditory perception such as hearing and holds the primary auditory cortex. The superior temporal gyrus includes an area where auditory signals from the ear first reach the cerebral cortex and are processed by the primary auditory cortex in the left temporal lobe. The areas associated with vision in the temporal lobe interpret the meaning of visual stimuli and establish object recognition. The ventral part of the temporal cortices appear to be involved in high-level visual processing of complex stimuli such as faces fusiform gyrus and scenes parahippocampal gyrus.

Anterior parts of this ventral stream for visual processing are involved in object perception and recognition. A lateral cross-section of the human brain: White matter appears white in this dissected human brain, while gray matter appears darker. White matter is composed largely of myelinated axons.

White matter is one of the two components of the central nervous system CNS. It consists mostly of glial cells and myelinated axons and forms the bulk of the deep parts of the cerebrum and the superficial parts of the spinal cord. In a freshly cut brain, the tissue of white matter appears pinkish white to the naked eye because myelin is composed largely of lipid tissue containing capillaries. The axons of white matter transmit signals from various grey matter areas the locations of nerve cell bodies of the cerebrum to each other and carry nerve impulses between neurons.

While grey matter is primarily associated with processing and cognition, white matter modulates the distribution of action potentials, acting as a relay and coordinating communication between different brain regions. There are three different kinds of tracts bundles of axons that connect one part of the brain to another within the white matter:. It connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and facilitates interhemispheric communication.

It is the largest white matter structure in the brain, consisting of to million contralateral axonal projections. Corpus Callosum: Location of the corpus callosum in the cerebrum. The part between the body and the splenium is often markedly thin and thus called the isthmus.

The rostrum is the part of the corpus callosum that projects posteriorly and inferiorly from the anteriormost genu. Agenesis of the corpus callosum ACC is a rare congenital disorder in which the corpus callosum is partially or completely absent.

It is usually diagnosed within the first two years of life and may manifest as a severe syndrome in infancy or childhood, as a milder condition in young adults, or as an asymptomatic incidental finding. Initial symptoms of ACC usually include seizures that may be followed by feeding problems and delays in holding the head erect, sitting, standing, and walking.

Hydrocephaly may also occur. Other possible symptoms include impairments in mental and physical development, hand-eye coordination, and visual and auditory memory. In mild cases, symptoms such as seizures, repetitive speech, or headaches may not appear for years. The basal ganglia is important for the control of movement and forming habits, and each of its components has a complex internal anatomical and neurochemical organization. The basal ganglia or basal nuclei are a group of nuclei of varied origin in the brains of vertebrates that act as a cohesive functional unit.

They are situated at the base of the forebrain and are strongly connected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and other brain areas. The components of the basal ganglia include the striatum, pallidum, substantia nigra, and subthalamic nucleus. Each of these components has a complex internal anatomical and neurochemical organization. The Basal Ganglia: The basal nuclei are often referred to as the basal ganglia. The main components of the basal nuclei are labeled in purple. The basal ganglia are associated with a variety of functions, including voluntary motor control, procedural learning relating to routine behaviors or habits such as bruxism, eye movements, and cognitive, emotional functions.

Currently, popular theories implicate the basal ganglia primarily in action selection, that is, the decision of which several possible behaviors to execute at a given time. Experimental studies show that the basal ganglia exert an inhibitory influence on a number of motor systems and that a release of this inhibition permits a motor system to become active. The behavior switching that takes place within the basal ganglia is influenced by signals from many parts of the brain, including the prefrontal cortex, which plays a key role in executive functions.

The basal ganglia play a central role in a number of neurological conditions, including several movement disorders. The basal ganglia have a limbic sector whose components are the nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, and ventral tegmental area VTA. This limbic sector is thought to play a central role in reward learning, particularly a pathway from the VTA to the nucleus accumbens that uses the neurotransmitter dopamine.

A number of highly addictive drugs, including cocaine, amphetamine, and nicotine, are thought to work by increasing the efficacy of this dopamine signal. The limbic system makes up the inner border of the cortex and is vital for emotion, motivation, and memory.

The limbic system, or paleomammalian brain, is a set of brain structures in the precortex and subcortex of the brain. It includes the hippocampus, amygdala, anterior thalamic nuclei, septum, limbic cortex, and fornix, and supports a variety of functions including emotion, behavior, motivation, long-term memory, and olfaction.