The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum in the brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perception, thought, language, and consciousness.
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The cerebral cortex is divided into four lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital.
It is responsible for higher-order brain functions such as sensation, voluntary muscle movement, reasoning, and problem-solving.
The surface of the cerebral cortex is folded into ridges called gyri and grooves called sulci to increase its surface area.
The cerebral cortex has two main types of neurons: excitatory pyramidal cells and inhibitory interneurons.
It communicates with other parts of the nervous system via white matter tracts.
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Related terms
FrontalLobe: Part of the cerebral cortex involved in reasoning, motor control, emotion, and language.
ParietalLobe: Region of the cerebral cortex that processes sensory information regarding location of parts of the body as well as interpreting visual information.
OccipitalLobe: The rearmost lobe in each cerebral hemisphere responsible for visual processing.