PSYC 311 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Receptive Field, Dentate Gyrus, Visual Cortex
Document Summary
The cerebral cortex develops from the telencephalon and has an area of approximately. 2200 cm2, only 1/3 of which is on the free surface the remaining 2/3 of the cortex is buried within the depths of the sulci. As cells become organized into horizontal layers, six layers can be distinguished (layers i to vi). Layer i is the outermost layer and is composed mostly of fibers (axons), with very little cells (neurons), thus it is called the molecular layer. This six-layered cellular arrangement is characteristic of the neocortex (also called the isocortex or homogeneity cortex). The older cortex the olfactory cortex, dentate gyrus, and hippocampal formation do not show this six-layered arrangement. The cerebral cortex contains: afferent fibers and terminals from other parts of the cns, association neurons, commissural neurons, projection neurons. Most projection fibers arise from the deeper layers of the cortex, while the association and commissural fibers arise mainly from the more superficial ones.