AP Psych - Brain - Cerebral Cortex

Cerebral Cortex

The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that cover the cerebral hemispheres

• The body’s ultimate control and information processing center

• Contains 20 to 23 billion nerve cells

• If flattened, it would cover four full pages of our textbook

Frontal Lobe

Contain the motor cortex which controls voluntary movement

• Controls:

  • Intellect

  • Moral compass

  • Reasoning

  • Planning

  • Contains the motor strip/cortex

  • Helps with working memory

Motor Cortex

Located in the frontal lobe:

• Controls voluntary movements

• Left motor cortex controls the right side of the body, the right motor cortex controls the left side of the body

Parietal Lobe

Located at the top of the head towards the rear:

• Contains the sensory cortex

• Spatial relations

• Kinesthetic Sense

• Recognizing your own body

Sensory Cortex

Located at the front of the parietal lobe, and behind the motor cortex:

• Registers and processes body sensations:

  • Touch

  • Pain

  • Pressure

  • Temperature

• Left side of this brain part processes sensations from the right side of the body and the right side of this brain part processes sensations from the left side of the body.

Temporal Lobe

Located above the ears:

• Contains the auditory cortex - processes everything you are hearing

• Memory

• Emotion

• Face Recognition (Right side of this brain part)

Occipital Lobe

Located in the back of the head:

• Includes the visual cortex, which receives information from the opposite visual field

• Primary function is VISION

Association Areas

• Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions

• Instead, they are involved in higher mental functions, such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking

• They are responsible for integrating and acting on information received and processed by sensory areas

• Combine sensory and motor information; coordinate interaction among different brain areas

• Areas of the cortex not involved in sensory or motor functions. They are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, planning, and language.