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FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION
OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX
 Specific types of sensory, motor & integrative
signals are processed in certain region of the
cerebral cortex
SENSORY AREAS
MOTOR AREAS
ASSOCIATION AREAS
SENSORY AREAS
 Sensory impulses arrive mainly in the posterior
half of both cerebral hemisphere's
 Important sensory areas are:
PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY AREA
PRIMARY VISUAL AREA
PRIMARY AUDITORY AREA
PRIMARY GUSTATORY AREA
PRIMARY OLFACTORY AREA
PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY AREA
 Located directly posterior to the central sulcus

of each cerebral hemisphere

 It receives the nerve impulse for touch,

pressure, vibration, itch, tickle, temperature,

pain & proprioception (joint & muscle position)
of these somatic sensations
 A map of entire body is present in the primary

somatosensory area, each point within the area

receives impulses from a specific part of the
body
 PRIMARY VISUAL AREA:
 Located at the posterior tip of the occipital lobe
mainly on the medial surface
 It receives the visual information & involved in
visual perception

 PRIMARY AUDITORY AREA:

 Located in the superior part of the temporal
lobe near the lateral cereberal sulcus
 Receives information for sound & is involved
in auditory perception
 PRIMARY GUSTATORY AREA
 Located at the base of the postcentral gyrus
superior to the lateral cerebral sulcus in the
parietal cortex
 Receives impulses for taste & is involved in
gustatory perception & taste discrimination

 PRIMARY OLFACTORY AREA

 Located in the temporal lobe on the medial
aspect
 Receives impulse for smell and is involved in
olfactory perception
MOTOR AREAS
 Motor output from the cerebral cortex flows
mainly from the anterior part of each
hemisphere
 Most important motor areas are
PRIMARY MOTOR AREA
BROCA'S SPEECH AREA
PRIMARY MOTOR AREA
 Located in the precentral gyrus of the frontal
lobe
 A map of entire body is present in the primary
motor area
 Each region within the area controls voluntary
contractions of specific muscles or group of
muscles
 Electrical stimulation of any point in the
primary motor area causes contraction of
specific skeletal muscle fibres on the opposite
site
BROCA'S SPEECH AREA
 Located in the frontal lobe close to the lateral

cerebral sulcus
 Speaking and understanding language are

complex activities that involves several

sensory, association and motor areas of the
cortex
 About 97% of the population these language

areas are localized in the left hemisphere

 The planning and production of speech occur

in the left frontal lobe in most peoples

 From broca's speech area nerve impulses pass

to the premotor region, that control the

muscles of larynx, pharynx and mouth
 The impulse from the premotor area result in
specific coordinated muscle contractions.
 Impulse propagate from Broca's speech area to
the primary motor area.
 The impulse also controls the breathing
muscles to regulate the proper flow of air past
the vocal cards
 The coordinated contractions of your speech
and breathing muscles enable you to speak
your thoughts.
 ASSOCIATION AREA:
 Association areas of the cerebrum consist of
large areas of the occipital, parietal & temporal
lobes & frontal lobe area anterior to motor area
They includes
 Somato sensory association area
 Visual association area
 Facial recognition area
 Auditory association area
 Orbitofrontal cortex
 Wernickes area (posterior language area)
 Common integrative area
 Prefrontal cortex (frontal association area)
 Premotor area
 Frontal eye field area
Somato sensory association area:
 It present posterior to primary somato sensory

area
 Receive impulse from primary somato sensory

area, thalamus & other parts of the brain

 This area helps to determine the exact shape

and texture of an object by feeling it

 To sense the relationship of one body part to

another
 Storage of memories of past somato sensory

experiences
 Enabling to compare current sensations with

previous one
 Eg: pencil & paper clip recognition by touching
Visual association area:
 Located in the occipital lobe
 Receives the impulse from primary visual area
and thalamus
 It relates present and past visual experiences
 It is also essential for recognizing and
evaluating what is seen

 Eg:
Recognize spoon by looking it
Facial recognition area
 Located in the inferior temporal lobe
 Receives impulse from visual association area
 This area stores information about the faces
 Allows you to recognize peoples by their faces
 Facial recognition area in right hemisphere is
more dominant than left
AUDITORY ASSOCIATION AREA:
 Located inferior and posterior to the primary
auditory area in the temporal cortex
 Allows you to recognize a particular sound as
speech, music or noise
ORBITO FRONTAL CORTEX:
 Located in the lateral part of the frontal lobe
 Receives sensory impulses from primary
olfactory area
 This allows you to identify odors and to
recognize among different orders
 The right hemisphere areas exhibits greater
activity than the left
WERNICKES AREA:
 This area also known as posterior language
 It is a broad region of left temporal and parietal
lobes
 It interprets the meaning of speech by
recognizing spoken words
 The same region in the right hemisphere
contribute to verbal communication by adding
emotional content ( such as anger or joy to
speak words)
COMMON INTEGRATIVE AREA
 It is bordered by somatosensory, visual and
auditory association areas
 It receives impulse from these areas, from
primary gustatory area, primary olfactory
areas, thalamus and parts of the brain stem
 This area integrates sensory interpretations
 Allowing the formation of thoughts based on
variety of sensory inputs
 Then transmits the signals to other parts of the
brain for the appropriate response
PREFRONTAL CORTEX:
 Also known as frontal association area

 Located in anterior portion of the frontal lobe

 This area has numerous connections with

other areas of cerebral cortex, thalamus,

hypothalamus, limbic system & cerebellum
 It concerned with

 persons personality,

 intellect (reasoning & understanding),

 complex,

 learning abilities,

 recall of information,
 initiative,
 judgement,
 foresight (ability to predict what will happen)
 reasoning,
 conscience(sense of right and wrong),
 intuition (understand instinctively),
 mood,
 planning for the future &
 development of abstract ideas
PREMOTOR AREA:
 It is a motor association area
 Located immediately anterior to the primary
motor cortex
 It deals with the learned motor activities of a
complex and sequential nature
 It generate nerve impulse that cause specific
groups of muscle to contract a specific
sequence
 Eg:
When you write your name
FRONTAL EYE FIELD AREA:
 Located in the frontal cortex
 Controls voluntary scanning movements of the
eyes
 Eg:
Like those you just used in reading this sentence
THANK U