The Cerebral Cortex

Cerebral cortex

Outer layer of the brain involved in complex mental abilities, sensory processing and voluntary movements; perception, learning, memory, language, thinking and problem solving

Cerebral Hemispheres

two almost symmetrical brain areas running from the front to the back of the brain and referred to as the right and left hemispheres

Hemispheric Specialisation

the concept that one hemisphere has specialised functions or exerts greater control over a particular function

Left Hemisphere Specialisations

verbal and analytical functions

Verbal Functions

the use or recognition of words (reading, writing, speaking and understanding speech)

Analytical Functions

involve breaking a task down into its key parts and approaching it in a sequential step by step

Right Hemisphere Specialisations

non-verbal functions (do not depend on language skills)

Non-verbal functions

spatial and visual thinking, recognising faces, patterns and tunes, appreciating music and artworks, creative thinking, daydreaming

Cortical Lobes

frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, temporal lobe

What’s in the Frontal Lobe

prefrontal cortex, primary motor cortex, broca’s area

Prefrontal Cortex

involved with sophisticated mental abilities; reasoning, planning, problem solving, decision making and symbolic thinking

Primary Motor Cortex

a strip of cortex at the back of each frontal lobe that initiates and controls voluntary movements

Broca’s Area

area in the brain’s left frontal lobe with a crucial role in clear and fluent speech production

Parietal Lobe

receives and processes bodily/somatosensory information

What’s in the parietal lobe

primary somatosensory cortex

Primary somatosensory cortex

a strip of cortex located at the front of each parietal lobe that receives and processes sensory information from the skin and body parts

Occipital Lobe

almost exclusively devoted to sense of vision

what’s in the occipital lobe?

`Primary visual cortex

Primary Visual Cortex

receives and processes visual information from the eyes

Tenporal Lobe

involved with auditory perception and plays an important role in memory, aspects of visual perception (identify objects and recognise faces) and emotional responses to sensory information and memories

What is in the temporal Lobe

Primary Auditory cortex and Wernicke’s Area

Primary Auditory Cortex

receives and processes sounds from both ears

Wernicke’s Area

area of the brain’s left temporal lobe involved with speech production and comprehension