The HOPES Brain Tutorial (Non-Flash Version) Part 3
A guided tour of the human brain and its parts.
Cerebral Cortex
The outermost and top layer of the brain is the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is the most recently evolved and most complex part of the brain. As one moves lower into the brain, the parts have increasingly primitive and basic functions and are less likely to require conscious control.
Brain Hemispheres
The cerebral cortex is divided down the middle, from front to back, into hemispheres, or halves. Each hemisphere has different functions. The left side of the cerebral cortex controls the right side of the body and speech. The right side controls the left side of the body and the perception of spatial relationships, such as where one’s foot might be located in relation to the ground.
Brain Tissue
White matter, which consists of neuronal axons, makes up the inner core of the hemispheres. The outer layer is made up of gray matter, which consists of neuron cell bodies. The cortex contains ridges (gyri) and valleys (sulci).
The hemispheres are separated by a deep groove, but are connected deep in the brain by the corpus callosum, a thick bundle of nerve fibers through which information is passed between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
Last Modified: 4-29-04
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The outermost and top layer of the brain is the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is the most recently evolved and most complex part of the brain. As one moves lower into the brain, the parts have increasingly primitive and basic functions and are less likely to require conscious control.
The cerebral cortex is divided down the middle, from front to back, into hemispheres, or halves. Each hemisphere has different functions. The left side of the cerebral cortex controls the right side of the body and speech. The right side controls the left side of the body and the perception of spatial relationships, such as where one’s foot might be located in relation to the ground.
White matter, which consists of neuronal axons, makes up the inner core of the hemispheres. The outer layer is made up of gray matter, which consists of neuron cell bodies. The cortex contains ridges (gyri) and valleys (sulci).
The hemispheres are separated by a deep groove, but are connected deep in the brain by the corpus callosum, a thick bundle of nerve fibers through which information is passed between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
