PSY 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Cerebral Cortex, Occipital Lobe, Central Sulcus
Document Summary
Looks solid to the naked eye, but it"s composed of trillions of individual units (cells) connected together. Different parts of the brain perform different jobs. We are still learning about what parts do what jobs and how they all work together. Important for basic functions like breathing, controlling heart beat, sleeping, waking, etc. Cerebral cortex - most advanced part of the brain, only about 3mm thick and covers the entire brain. Makes humans distinguished from other types of animals that do not have a cerebral cortex or one that is as advanced as ours. About 80% of the human brain, it is folded up in different folds. If you laid it out flat it would cover more then 2 square feet. Divided into two halves, left and right hemisphere. Grey matter - consists of cell bodies, dendrites, and short range axons. White matter - consists entirely of long range axons that connect distance part of the cortex.
