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Cerebral Cortex

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Noback's Human Nervous System, Seventh Edition

Abstract

The cerebral cortex is the 600-g gray covering of the cerebrum, constituting about 40% of the brain by weight and containing up to 100 billion or more neurons. The most conspicuous structural feature of the cortex is its organization into layers which are oriented parallel to the surface (Fig. 25.1). The cerebral cortex in mammals is divided into a phylogenetically older allocortex, about 10% of the total, and the more recently evolved six layered neocortex (isocortex), about 90% of the cortex in humans. The allocortex, which does not receive thalamic input, consists of the ancient three-layered archicortex, which is limited to the hippocampal formation (hippocampus and dentate gyrus), and the paleocortex, composed of the six-layered parahippocampal gyrus, and the olfactory cortex or uncus. The mesocortex which is structurally transitional between the neocortex and the allocortex, includes the cingulate gyrus, fasciolar gyrus, and the isthmus (Fig. 1.7). The allocortex and mesocortex incorporate the limbic lobe (Chap. 1), an artificial construct formed from parts of other lobes and located on the medial aspect of the hemisphere, where it forms a ring around the corpus callosum and rostral brainstem. The neocortex consists of the cortex of the frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal, and central lobes, excluding the allocortex (Chap. 1).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience, The Albany Medical College, Albany, NY, USA

    Norman L. Strominger

  2. Highview Terrace 87, Hawthorne, NJ, USA

    Robert J. Demarest

  3. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA

    Lois B. Laemle

Authors
  1. Norman L. Strominger
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  2. Robert J. Demarest
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  3. Lois B. Laemle
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Strominger, N.L., Demarest, R.J., Laemle, L.B. (2012). Cerebral Cortex. In: Noback's Human Nervous System, Seventh Edition. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-779-8_25

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