Cerebral cortex

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Location of the cerebral cortex
File:Cerebral Cortex 10.5mm.jpg
Slice of the cerebral cortex, ca. 10.5mm wide
Golgi-stained neurons in the somatosensory cortex of the macaque monkey.

The cerebral cortex is a structure within the vertebrate brain with distinct structural and functional properties. In non-living, preserved brains, the outermost layers of the cerebrum has a grey color, hence the name "grey matter". Grey matter is formed by neurons and their unmyelinated fibers while the white matter below the grey matter of the cortex is formed predominantly by myelinated axons interconnecting different regions of the central nervous system. The human cerebral cortex is 2-4 mm (0.08-0.16 inches) thick and plays a central role in many complex brain functions including memory, attention, perceptual awareness, "thinking", language and consciousness.

The surface of the cerebral cortex is folded in large mammals where more than two thirds of the cortical surface is buried in the grooves, called "sulci". The phylogenetically more ancient part of the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus, is differentiated in five layers of neurons, while the more recent neo-cortex is differentiated in six basic layers. Relative variations in thickness or cell type (among other parameters) allows us to distinguish among different neocortical architectonic fields. The geometry of these fields seems to be related to the anatomy of the cortical folds and, for example, layers in the upper part of the cortical grooves (called gyri) are more clearly differentiated than in its deeper parts (called sulcal "fundi").


The cerebral cortex develops from the neural plate, a specialised part of the embryonic ectoderm. The neural plate folds and closes to form the neural tube. From the cavity inside the neural tube develops the ventricular system, and, from the epithelial cells of its walls, the neurons and glial cells. The most-frontal part of the neural tube, the telencephalon, gives rise to the cerebral hemispheres and the neocortex.

Most cortical neurons are generated within the ventricular zone close to the ventricles. Initially, progenitor cells in the ventricular zone divide symmetrically, producing two progenitor cells by mitotic cycle. Then, some progenitor cells begin to divide asymmetrically, producing one postmitotic cell that migrates radially and leaves the ventricular zone, and a daughter cell that continues to divide or that eventually dies. The migrating cells will become neurons.[1] Recent work has identified radial glial cells (also here) as one population of progenitor cells.[2]

During fetal and neonatal life, the immature cerebral cortex (the cortical plate) is sandwiched between two synaptic zones: the marginal zone above and an area just below the cortical plate, the subplate. The subplate is transient and disappears by approximately 2 months postnatal (Friauf, 1991).

Laminar pattern


  1. Molecular layer
  2. External granular layer
  3. External pyramidal layer
  4. Internal granular layer
  5. Internal pyramidal layer
  6. Multiform layer.

After migration, neurons form efferents and receive afferent connections characteristic of their layer. It is interesting to note that during development, the inner layers are formed before the outer layers are.

  3. The external pyramidal layer III contains predominantly small and medium sized pyramidal neurons, as well as non-pyramidal neurons with vertically-oriented intracortical axons. Layers I through III are the main target of interhemispheric corticocortical afferents, and layer III is the principal source of corticocortical efferents.
  5. The internal pyramidal layer V contains large pyramidal neurons (as the Betz cells in the primary motor cortex), as well as interneurons, and it is the principal source of efferent for all the motor-related subcortical structures.
  6. The multiform layer VI contains few large pyramidal neurons and many small spindle-like pyramidal and multiform neurons. The layer VI sends efferent fibers to the thalamus establishing a very precise reciprocal interconnection between the cortex and the thalamus (Creutzfeldt, 1995).

During early development, there is an additional layer of neurons present in the future white matter. these are called subplate neurons and these neurons disappear during postnatal development.

The cortical layers are not simply stacked one over the other; they develop characteristic connections between different layers, which define the basic structure of the cortical columns in the mature cortex (Mountcastle, 1997).


Connections of the cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex sends connections (efferents) and receives connections (afferents) from many subcortical structures like the thalamus and basal ganglia. Most of the sensory stimulation arrives at the cerebral cortex indirectly through different thalamic nuclei. This is the case of touch, vision and sound but not of olfactory stimulation, which passes to the olfactory bulb and then to the olfactory (pyriform) cortex. The largest part of the connections arriving at the cerebral cortex do not come from subcortical structures however. The main source of cortical stimulation is the cerebral cortex itself: maybe 99% of the total connections (Braitenberg and Schüz, 1991).


Motor areas


Two areas of the cortex are commonly referred to as motor:

  • Primary motor cortex, which executes voluntary movements
  • Supplementary motor areas and premotor cortex, which select voluntary movements.

In addition, motor functions have been described for:

  • Posterior Parietal Cortex, which guides voluntary movements in space
  • Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex, which decides which voluntary movements to make according to higher-order instructions, rules, and self-generated thoughts.

Sensory areas

Areas that receive that particular information are called sensory areas. Parts of the cortex that receive sensory inputs from the thalamus are called primary sensory areas. The senses of vision, audition and touch are served by the primary visual cortex, primary auditory cortex and primary somatosensory cortex. In general, the two hemispheres receive the information from the opposite sides of the body. For example the right primary somatosensory cortex receives information from the left limbs and the right visual cortex receives information from the left visual field. The organisation of sensory maps in the cortex reflects that of the corresponding sensing organ, in which is known as a topographic map. Neighbouring points in the primary visual cortex, for example, correspond to neighbouring points in the retina. This topographic map is called a retinotopic map. In the same way, there exists a tonotopic map in the primary auditory cortex and a somatotopic map in the primary sensory cortex. This last topographic map of the body onto the Posterior Central Gyrus has been illustrated as deformed human representation, the somatosensory homunculus, where the size of different limbs reflects the importance of their innervation.

Association areas

Association areas comprise three major groups:

  1. Parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes - all located in the posterior part of the brain - are involved in producing our perceptions resulting from what our eyes see, ears hear, and other sensory organs inform us about the position of different parts of our body and relate them to the position of other objects in the environment
  2. Frontal lobe - called prefrontal association complex and involved in planning actions and movement, as well as abstract thought

In humans, the association areas of the left hemisphere, especially the parietal-temporal-occipital complex, are responsible for our understanding and use of language.



Auxiliary classes are:

Based on supposed developmental differences the following classification also appears:


  • Temporal Cortex
  • Parietal Cortex
  • Frontal Cortex
  • Occipital Cortex

Cortical thickness

With magnetic resonance brain scanners it is possible to get a measure for the thickness of the human cerebral cortex and relate it to other measures. One study has found some positive association between the cortical thickness and intelligence.[3]

See also

Further reading

  • Kandel, E.R., Schwartz, J. H., and Jessell, T.M. Principles of Neural Science (Fourth Edition). 2000. New York, McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-8385-7701-6.
  • Zigmond, M. J., Bloom, F. E., Landis, S.C., Roberts, J.L, and Squire, L.R. Fundamental Neuroscience. 1999. San Diego, Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-780870-1.


  1. P. Rakic (1988). "Specification of cerebral cortical areas". Science. 241 (4862): 170&ndash, 176. doi:10.1126/science.3291116. Check date values in: |year= (help)
  2. Stephen C. Noctor, Alexander C. Flint, Tamily A. Weissman, Ryan S. Dammerman & Arnold R. Kriegstein (2001). "Neurons derived from radial glial cells establish radial units in neocortex". Nature. 409 (6821): 714&ndash, 720. doi:10.1038/35055553. PMID 11217860. Check date values in: |year= (help)
  3. Katherine L. Narr, Roger P. Woods, Paul M. Thompson, Philip Szeszko, Delbert Robinson, Teodora Dimtcheva, Mala Gurbani, Arthur W. Toga and Robert M. Bilder (2007). "Relationships between IQ and Regional Cortical Gray Matter Thickness in Healthy Adults". Cerebral Cortex. 17 (9): 2163&ndash, 2171.
  • Noctor SC, Flint AC, Weissman TA, Dammerman RS, Kriegstein AR. (2001) Neurons derived from radial glial cells establish radial units in neocortex. "Nature" 409(6821):714-720. PMID 11217860
  • Friauf, J. 1991. Changing patterns of synaptic input to subplate and cortical plate during development of visual cortex.
  • Braitenberg, V and Schüz, A 1991. "Anatomy of the Cortex: Statistics and Geometry" NY: Springer-Verlag

External links

da:Hjernebark de:Großhirnrinde he:קליפת המוח nl:Cerebrale cortex fi:Aivokuori sv:Hjärnbark yi:קאָרטעקס