Elementary Unit of the Brain: The Cerebral Cortex
The elementary unit of the brain is the cerebral cortex. It is an important structure that forms the cerebrum’s surface. According to Purves et al (2011), it is a 1 cm-thick layer of grey matter that forms the outer surface of the cerebral hemispheres. It is the brain’s largest part and is made up of 4 lobes. These are the temporal, occipital, frontal and parietal lobes. The temporal lobe has the primary purpose of processing sounds from a person’s years, and also contains areas of association that assist people in remembering language. The occipital lobe controls vision processing in people. For example, when a person is hit at the back of his or her head, their vision dies suddenly. This is a result of occipital lobe malfunction because it is located in the brain’s lower back.
The frontal lobe is the key part of the cerebral cortex, and it is associated with consciousness, personality and intelligence. The frontal lobes of human beings are the most developed than those of any other creature. The parietal lobe is located close to the occipital lobe, and it utilizes some information from the occipital lobe to determine special concepts. For example, interior designers tend to have occipital lobes which are more developed, and the parietal lobe is responsible for their ability to visualize objects’ size in a space. Purves et al (2011) observe that the cerebral cortex is critical for higher levels of mental function because it carries about half of all neurons in the brain of a human being. Therefore, the cerebral cortex is the elementary unit of the brain because it is responsible for attention, memory, thought, consciousness, intelligence, language, personality and perceptual awareness.
References
Purves, D., Augustine, G.J., Fitzpatrick, D., Hall, W.C., Lamantia, A.S. & White, L.E. (2011) Neuroscience. Massachusetts: Sinauer Associates, Inc.
