Specialized Functions of the Cerebral Cortex

Cortical areas and its functions
Association areas are those responsible for interconnecting the various sensory and motor areas by means of association fibers
(In the footnote, see about its importance).

Cortical Area

Function

Primary Motor Cortex (in red)

Initiation of voluntary movement

Primary Somatosensory Cortex (in dark blue)

Receives tactile information, pain, pressure, position and moviment and temperature

Prefrontal Cortex (in pink)

Planning, emotion, judgment

Motor Association Cortex (Premotor Area) (in green)

Coordination of complex movements

Speech Center (Broca's Area) (in black)

Speech production and articulation

Auditory Cortex (in brown)

Auditory perception and hearing

Auditory Association Area (in light blue)

Complex processing of auditory information

(in yellow)

>

Visual Association Area (in orange)

Complex processing of visual information

Visual Cortex (in dark green)

Primary visual perception

Wernicke's Area (in light green)

Comprehension of spoken language

The association areas. are important for the maintenance of higher mental activities in man, although it is not possible to localize any specific mental faculty or fraction of conscious experience. Aphasias, or speech defects resulting from cortical lesions illustrate the significance of association areas. In right-handed individuals these are produced by lesions in the left hemisphere (the dominant hemisphere).

Contd. The External Architecture of the Brain
By: Silvia Helena Cardoso, PhD
In: Brain & Mind

Center for Biomedical Informatics
State University of Campinas, Brazil


Silvia Helena Cardoso, PhD

Copyright 1997 State University of Campinas