<p></p><p style="text-align: center; "><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/cortex2.png" alt="cortex" width="477" height="348" class="img-responsive atto_image_button_middle"><br></p><p>The cortex is
the neomammalian brain, which is the grey matter. The cortex is the bark of the
brain, “cortex” literally translating to bark in Latin. This part of the brain
continues to develop and mature into the third decade of life, creating our
learned social-emotional behaviors, and emotions. Higher-level primates
(including humans) oscillate at faster frequencies here. This layer of the
brain is responsible for all conscious thought, learning, and self-awareness. Approximately 40,000 years ago, with the Cro-Magnon man, both
hemispheres of the brain underwent a major functional reorganization. It was at
this time that the frontal lobes increased in size, bonding processes (sexual
and social) became more complex, and the ability to communicate and express
ideas began to emerge, notably in drawings, etchings, carvings, and sculpture. It is this third layer of the cortex that allows for
self-conscious awareness, among other qualities.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/cortex.jpg" alt="cortex" width="500" height="307" class="atto_image_button_middle" style="font-size: 1rem;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br></p><p></p>

<p><br></p><p style="text-align: center; "><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/evolution.png" alt="evolution" width="663" height="391" class="img-responsive atto_image_button_middle"><br></p><p>In a cortical organization, neurons are arranged in layers and the neurons in each layer are functionally alike and different from those in other layers. The crinkled sheet of nerve cells (grey matter) that is the cortex is 1/5” thick.&nbsp; This is the house of the highest level of neural processing (e.g. language, memory, cognitive functioning). The cerebral cortex can be divided into areas concerned with particular functions. What lies underneath the cortex is considered white matter.<br></p>

<p>Cortical
interneurons make up 1/5 of the cortical neuronal population (65) and release
the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). Although they
are outnumbered, interneurons innervate principle neurons at strategic places
and with synaptic terminals, which allows for Inhibitory Post Synaptic
Potentials (IPSPs)&nbsp; to approximately
match the effects of excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs). It is through
this dance that the balance of cortical activity is established.</p><p>There are six layers of pyramidal cells, as seen here:</p><p style="text-align: center; "><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/pyramidal%20cells.jpg" alt="P cells" width="700" height="698" class="img-responsive atto_image_button_middle"><br></p>

<p>Brain systems
with “simple” computational demands evolved only a few neuron types. The
thalamus, basal ganglia, and cerebellum possess a low degree of variability in
their neuron types. In contrast, cortical structures have evolved not only five
principle-cell types, but also numerous classes of GABAergic inhibitory neurons
(Buszaki, 2006).</p><p>MacLean
noted the unconscious reptilian and limbic brain regions influence the higher-ordered neomammalian brain. The cortex consists of “bumps,” called gyri (“gyrus”
is singular) and “grooves” called sulci (“sulcus” is singular). Some anatomists
call the deepest sulci “fissures” (Catani &amp; Thiebaut de Schotten, 2012, p.
8).<br></p><p><br></p><p style="text-align: center; "><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/Gyrus.png" alt="Gyrus" width="477" height="302" class="img-responsive atto_image_button_text-bottom"><br></p><p><br></p><p style="text-align: center; "><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/sulcus.png" alt="sucus" width="499" height="183" class="img-responsive atto_image_button_middle"><br></p><p><br></p>

<h3>&nbsp;See here a map of all the major gyri and sulci in the brain.</h3><p style="text-align: center; "><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/cortex.png" alt="cortex" width="700" height="488" class="img-responsive atto_image_button_middle"><br></p><p><br></p><p>The Longitudinal fissure is the long sulcus that divides the left
and right hemispheres of the brain. </p>

<h3><a name="_Toc28940397">Right hemisphere and Left
Hemisphere</a></h3>

<p>There are
differences between the functionality of the right and the left hemispheres of
the brain.&nbsp; The right hemisphere of the
brain is unique in that it is <b><i>not</i></b> temporally associated (unlike
the left hemisphere, which uses the precedent of the past to project into the
future in anticipation). Whereas the left hemisphere is the side of our brain
that speaks, read, writes, calculates, and takes care of numbers and facts (and
some more specific responsibilities, such as making metaphors, lexical ability,
self-reflection, self-appraisal, and inferences during reading), the right-hand
side plays the role of assimilating all of this information. The right-hand
side of the brain does not distinguish where I end and you begin, nay, it is an
associational hemisphere that is more concerned with making meaning of all the
component parts. It is the part of the brain that creates and draw similarity.
It is the part of the brain that recognizes the connectivity of things, events,
and people. allows for us to connect with others, to understand the
connectivity of things, to comprehend situations and data in a sensory way,
even in a psi-phenomenological way.</p><p>The Sulci that divides the hemispheres of the brain is called the Longitudinal Fissure</p><h3>Longitudinal Fissure that Divides the
Hemispheres</h3><p><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/Longitudinal%20Fissure.png" alt="Longitudinal Fissure" width="448" height="488" class="img-responsive atto_image_button_left"><br></p><p></p><p>The central sulcus (aka Rolandic Fissure) is the transverse sulci
that separates the frontal lobes from the parietal lobes, as well as the
sensory-motor strip into the motor cortex and the somatosensory cortex. </p><p></p><h4><a name="_Toc28940399"><span>Central
Sulcus, aka Rolandic Fissure</span></a></h4><p></p><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/Rolandic%20Sulcus.png" alt="Rolandic Sulcus 1" width="199" height="127" class="img-responsive atto_image_button_text-bottom"><br><p></p><p><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/rolandic%203.png" alt="rolandic 3" width="319" height="318" class="img-responsive atto_image_button_text-bottom"><br></p><h3>The Sylvian Fissure</h3><p style="text-align: center; "><img src="@@PLUGINFILE@@/Sylvian%20Fissure.png" alt="Sylvian Fissure" width="600" height="436" class="img-responsive atto_image_button_text-bottom"><br></p><p style="text-align: center; ">The sylvian fissure is the meeting of the temporal nd the frontal lobes of the brain, which opens up into a pocket of cortical tissue called the insula.</p><br><p></p>