Cerebral Cortex Areas and Functions

primary motor cortex

plans and executes movement

premotor cortex

plans and executes complex movement

frontal eye fields

back and forth eye movements

primary somatosensory cortex (S1)

interprets incoming somatic sensory stimuli

somatosensory association cortex (S2)

integrates somatic sensory stimuli

primary visual cortex

processes and interprets visual stimuli

primary auditory cortex

processes auditory stimuli

gustatory cortex

processes taste stimuli

vestibular areas

processes stimuli relating to balance and equilibrium

olfactory cortex

processes smell stimuli

Broca’s area

language production

Wernicke’s area

language comprehension

prefrontal cortex

planning, personality, higher cognitive functions

parietal association cortex

spatial awareness and attention

temporal association cortex

recognition and associations