Cognitive Functions Are Localized Within the Cerebral Cortex

The brain operations responsible for our cognitive abilities occur primarily in the cerebral cortex the furrowed gray matter covering the cerebral hemispheres. In each of the brain's two hemispheres the overlying cortex is divided into four anatomically distinct lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital (see Figure 12B), originally named for the skull bones that encase them. These lobes have specialized functions. The frontal lobe is largely concerned with planning future action and with the control of movement; the parietal lobe with somatic sensation, with forming a body image, and with relating one's body image with extrapersonal space; the occipital lobe with vision; the temporal lobe with hearing; and through its deep structuresthe hippocampus and the amygdaloid nucleiwith aspects of learning, memory, and emotion. Each lobe has several characteristic deep infoldings (a favored evolutionary strategy for packing in more cells in a limited space). The crests of these convolutions are called gyri, while the intervening grooves are called sulci or fissures. The more prominent gyri and sulci are quite similar in everyone and have specific names. For example, the central sulcus separates the precentral gyrus, which is concerned with motor function, from the postcentral gyrus, which is concerned with sensory function (Figure 1-4A).