Sublime

The outermost layer of the brain consists of a gray sheet of tissue about one-tenth of an inch thick called the cerebral cortex (Latin for “brain bark”). Packed with layers of busy brain cells, the cortex is responsible for our most sophisticated intellectual functions, such as language, reasoning, and planning.

This is the neocortex, a thin sheet of neural tissue that envelops most of the older parts of the brain.

Since this area is where you log sensory data such as what you see and hear, the neocortex plugs you into external reality.

Top level: neocortex. This is the most recently evolved part of the brain and a feature we share only with our closest animal relatives, the primates. The neocortex is associated with deep thought, reasoning, memory, and processing sensory information. Based on what you’re thinking about, the neocortex sends signals down to the limbic system.

In contrast to the deactivation of Broca’s area, another region, Brodmann’s area 19, lit up in our participants. This is a region in the visual cortex that registers images when they first enter the brain.

A large region in the back of the neocortex, including temporal, parietal, and occipital neighborhoods, is closely linked to subjective experiences of sight, hearing, touch, and sensing of the body and the self. Because of its close association with consciousness, this region, the current best NCC candidate, is termed the posterior hot zone.

Il cervello intermedio è caratteristico di tutti i mammiferi e comprende l’area in cui vengono elaborate le emozioni: il sistema limbico (dal latino limbus, che vuol dire bordo).

The auditory cortex, also located in the temporal lobe, sits behind your ears, where memory and perception also occur.