<p style="text-align: left;"><b>Cortex</b><br></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><b>The convoluted layer of grey matter covering the surface of the cerbral hemispheres about half of which is hidden within the folded walls of the sulci.</b><br></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span>The cortex is composed of six layers of neurons, called the pyramidal neurons. The pre-frontal cortex is involved in working memory, the planning of complex behaviors, and coordination of thought in relation to goals and decision-making (Gorochowski, 2009). This area of the brain is responsible for higher-ordered tasks, such as thinking, planning, motor execution, and mood control (Thatcher, 2015). With the evolution of the cerebral cortex, our early ancestors (Cro-Magnon man), once a free-roaming and wild species wholly reliable upon instincts, found themselves with higher cognitive thought, which upturned the previous reliance on unconscious drives and desires. With this outward growth of their brains, they were forced to think, deduce, calculate, and consider cause and effect.&nbsp;“Unhappy people, reduced to their most fallible organ, their consciousness” (Nietzsche, 1985, p. 153).&nbsp;</span><br></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span><span><span><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/cerebral-cortex.png" alt="Cerebral Cortex" width="349" height="217" class="img-responsive atto_image_button_middle"><br></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span><span><span><br></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><span><span>One interesting component of neurophysiology that has been discovered is that our prefrontal cortex can simulate the future (Byrne &amp; Reiner, 2006). This has been most popularly described in the case of Olympian athletes (Byrne &amp; Reiner, 2006). It has been proven that the same portions of the brain fire when these individuals complete their event in their mind as does when they are actually competing in the event. Taking the internal perspective triggers the somatosensory perspective (Casey &amp; Romanyshyn, 2010). In interviewing gymnasts, many of those who have qualified for the Olympics speak of using internal imagery—that is, they saw themselves inside their minds conducting their gymnastic feats, whereas those who did not qualify for the Olympics commonly used external imagery; they watched video tapes more and relied on observing others (Byrne &amp; Reiner, 2006).&nbsp;<br></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/prefrontal-cortex.png" alt="Prefrontal Cortex" width="834" height="338" class="img-responsive atto_image_button_text-bottom"><br></p>