Cerebral cortex

By: Dr. Khulood Al-Khater

Internal structure of the cerebral hemisphere

Gray matter

White matter

Ventricles

Cerebral cortex Basal ganglia

Internal capsule & corona radiata..

lateral ventricles

Lobes of the cerebral hemispheres

Frontal lobe Parietal lobe

occipital lobe

Insula

Temporal lobe

Cerebral cortex (gray matter)

Consists of nerve cells,

nerve fibers, neuroglia and blood vessels Thickness varies from 1.5 to 4.5 mm ~10 billion neurons Function: awareness and discrimination of different stimuli

Cerebral gray matter

It contains 5 types of

neurons It consists of 6 layers

Horizontal cells

Stellate cells

Pyramidal cells

Cells of Martinotti

Betz cells (in motor area)

Fusiform cells

Layers of the cerebral cortex

Variation in the cerebral structure

Cerebral cortex Homotypical (6 layers) Heterotypical (<6 layers)

granular

agranular

Sensory areas

Motor areas

Frontal lobe

Cortical areas I. Frontal lobe

Primary motor area (Br 4) Secondary motor area (Br 6) Supplementary motor area Frontal eye field Motor speech area of Broca

Prefrontal cortex

I. Frontal Lobe
Primary motor area Secondary motor

area Supplementary motor area LesionUMN

paralysis in C/L limb

I. Frontal Lobe

LesionUMN
paralysis in C/L limb

I. Frontal lobe
Frontal eye field Voluntary conjugate

movements of both eyes

Lesion: deviation of
the 2 eyes to the side of the lesion and inability to turn the eyes to the opposite side But the involuntary movement is normal

I. Frontal lobe
Motor speech area In the dominant

hemisphere (left in >90% of individuals)

Lesion: Expressive Aphasia

I. Frontal lobe
Prefrontal area Determines the

personality of the individual

Lesion: abnormal behavior, loss of judgment, emotional changes (euphoria)

II. Parietal lobe

Functional areas in the parietal lobe

Primary somesthetic area

Secondary somesthetic area

Somesthetic association area

II. Parietal Lobe

Primary somesthetic area

(S1) In postcentral gyrus & posterior part of paracentral lobule Receives afferents from VPL & VPM thalamic nuclei Receives sensation from C/L Lesion: side of body (few exceptions) sensory disturbance in the C/L limb

II. Parietal Lobe

Lesion: sensory disturbance in the C/L limb

II. Parietal Lobe

Secondary somesthetic

area (S2) In the superior lip of the posterior ramus of the lateral sulcus Detailed connections are unknown function?
Lesion: No recognizable sensory deficits

II. Parietal Lobe

Somesthetic

association area In the superior parietal lobule It receives and integrates different sensory modalities (stereognosis)
Lesion: Astereognosis

III. Temporal Lobe

Functional areas in the temporal lobe Primary auditory area

Secondary auditory area

Sensory speech area (Wernickes area)

III. Temporal Lobe

Primary auditory

area (Heschl's area):

In the inferior wall of the

lateral sulcus It receives auditory Lesion : fibers from the MGB Partial deafness in both ears (unilateral lesion) Complete deafness (bilateral lesion)

III. Temporal Lobe

Secondary

auditory area (auditory association cortex):

Posterior to the

primary auditory are, in the inferior wall of the lateral sulcus It receives fibers from the 1ry auditory area and thalamus

Lesion:
Auditory Agnosia (word deafness)

III. Temporal Lobe

Sensory speech

area of Wernicke:
In the dominant

hemisphere (left) : in the superior temporal gyrus, with extensions to the parietal region It permits the understanding of the spoken and written language-the angular gyrus recognises written language

Lesion: Receptive aphasia

III. Temporal Lobe

Lesion of angular gyrus (in Dominant hemis): Alexia & agraphia

Lesion: Receptive aphasia

Pathway involved in answering a question: Ear1ry auditory area2ry auditory area Wernicke's areaBroca's area1ry motor area corticobulbar tract muscles involved in speech (larynx, tongue...)

 Pathway involved in

reading a sentence and repeating it loud: Retina visual cortex angular gyrus Wernicke's area Broca's area 1ry motor cortex corticobulbar tract muscles involved in speech (larynx, tongue...)

Lesion of sensory and motor speech areas:

Global aphasia

IV. Occipital Lobe

Functional areas in the occipital lobe Primary visual area Secondary visual area Occipital eye field

IV. Occipital Lobe

Primary visual area: Situated in the walls

Lesion: of the posterior part of Contralateral quadrantic the calcarine sulcus hemianopia (if only upper or lower half) It receives visual radiation from LGB Lesion: From Macula
Contralateral homonymous hemianopia (if both upper lower Right & visual cortex Left half of the visual field halves are affected)

IV. Occipital lobe

Secondary visual

area: Surrounds the 1ry visual area It relates the visual Lesion: information to past Visual Agnosia visual experiences enables the individual to recognize and appreciate what he is seeing

IV. Occipital lobe

Occipital eye field:

In the 2ry visual area

Function: automatic

scanning movement (reflex/involuntary)

Other Cortical Areas

Taste area

Vestibular area
Olfactory area Insula: planning & coordinating the articulatory movements necessary for speech/involved in visceral sensation

Dominant (left) hemisphere Handedness Language Calculation & math

Non-dominant Cerebral Dominance (right) hemisphere Certain nervous activity is predominantly performed by one of the two cerebral hemispheres

Spacial perception Recognition of faces Music/art

Ambidextrous individuals (write with both hands)

White Matter of the cerebral hemispheres

Commissural fibers

Association fibers

Projection fibers

Commissural fibers
Corpus callosum
Other commissures:

anterior, posterior, habenular commissures and commissure of the fornix

Association fibers
Association fibers short
Uncinate fasciculus
Cingulum Superior longitudinal fasciculus

long

Frontooccipital fasciculus
Inferior longitudinal fasciculus

Projection fibers
Internal capsule