Module 13 — Cerebral Cortex & Brain Processing

Cerebral cortex

Layer of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the brain’s main control and information-processing center.

Frontal Lobes

Cortex behind the forehead; involved in speaking, muscle movement, planning, and judgment.

Parietal Lobes

Cortex at the top and toward the rear of the head; receives sensory information about touch and body position.

Occipital lobes

Cortex at the back of the head; receives information from the visual fields.

Temporal lobes

Cortex roughly above the ears; contains the auditory areas.

Motor Cortex

Area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movement.

Somatosensory cortex

Area at the front of the parietal lobes that processes touch and body/movement sensations.

Association areas

Cortex areas not responsible for primary sensory or motor functions; involved in higher mental processes such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking.

Plasticity

The brain’s ability to change and reorganize, especially during childhood, after damage or through experience.

Neurogenesis

Formation of new neurons

Corpus callosum

Large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them.

Split Brain

Condition in which the brain’s two hemispheres are surgically separated, usually by cutting the corpus callosum.

Cognitive neuroscience

Interdisciplinary study of brain activity connected to cognition, including perception, thinking, memory, and language.

Dual processing

The principle that information can be processed simultaneously on conscious and unconscious tracks.

Blindsight

Ability to respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing/seeing it.

Parallel processing

Processing many aspects of information simultaneously, generally used for well-learned or easy information.

Sequential processing

Processing one aspect of information at a time, generally used for new or difficult information.