GROSS ANATOMY

The cerebral cortex is the outermost layer of the cerebrum.  It is made up of neural tissue and is about 2-4mm thick in the human.

For humans and other large mammals the surface of the cerebral cortex is folded, increasing the surface area and forming grooves.

► The deepest grooves are called fissures and the shallower ones are called sulci (plural of sulcus).  Ridges are known as gyri (plural of gyrus).

► By using these fissures and sulci as landmarks it is possible to distinguish between the four anatomical lobes of the cerebrum: the Frontal, Parietal, Temporal, and Occipital lobes.

► The central sulcus separates the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe.

► The lateral fissure lies between the frontal and temporal lobes.

► The parietal-occipital fissure (which can only be seen in a medial section of a brain and not in a lateral view of the brain) separates the parietal and occipital lobes.

Cerebral Lobes. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.  This image is in public domain.

_{Coronal Section}

Coronal Section of Brain. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. This image is in public domain.

The cerebral cortex can be seen as the slightly darker area of the brain, the grey matter, that surrounds the white matter of the rest of the brain.

Even in unstained sections the difference between the white matter and the grey matter of the brain is noticeable.