The adult human brain weighs on average about 1.5 kg (3.

3 lb)
[1]
with a volume of around 1130
cubic centimetres (cm
3
) in women and 1260 cm
3
in men, although there is substantial individual
variation.
[2]
Neurological differences between the sexes have not been shown to correlate in any
simple way with IQ or other measures of cognitive performance.
[3]
The human brain is composed
of neurons, glial cells, and blood vessels. The number of neurons, according to array tomography, a
technique far more accurate than earlier microscopic methods, has shown about 200 billion neurons
in the human brain with 125 trillion synapses in the cerebral cortex alone.
[4]

The cerebral hemispheres (the cerebrum) form the largest part of the human brain and are situated
above other brain structures. They are covered with a cortical layer (the cerebral cortex) which has a
convoluted topography.
[5]
Underneath the cerebrum lies the brainstem, resembling a stalk on which
the cerebrum is attached. At the rear of the brain, beneath the cerebrum and behind the brainstem,
is the cerebellum, a structure with a horizontally furrowed surface, the cerebellar cortex, that makes
it look different from any other brain area. The same structures are present in other mammals,
although they vary considerably in relative size. As a rule, the smaller the cerebrum, the less
convoluted the cortex. The cortex of a rat or mouse is almost perfectly smooth. The cortex of a
dolphin or whale, on the other hand, is more convoluted than the cortex of a human.
The living brain is very soft, having a consistency similar to soft gelatin or soft tofu. Despite being
referred to as grey matter, the live cortex is pinkish-beige in color and slightly off-white in the interior.
General features[edit]


Human brain viewed through a mid-line incision
The human brain has many properties that are common to all vertebrate brains, including a basic
division into three parts called the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain, each with fluid-
filled ventricles at their core, and a set of generic vertebrate brain structures including the medulla
oblongata, pons, cerebellum, optic tectum, thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, olfactory bulb,
and many others.
As a mammalian brain, the human brain has special features that are common to all mammalian
brains, most notably a six-layered cerebral cortex and a set of structures associated with it, including
the hippocampus and amygdala. All vertebrates have a forebrain whose upper surface is covered
with a layer of neural tissue called the pallium, but in all except mammals the pallium has a relatively
simple three-layered cell structure. In mammals it has a much more complex six-layered cell
structure, and is given a different name, the cerebral cortex. The hippocampus and amygdala also
originate from the pallium, but are much more complex in mammals than in other vertebrates.
As a primate brain, the human brain has a much larger cerebral cortex, in proportion to body size,
than most mammals, and a very highly developed visual system. The shape of the brain within the
skull is also altered somewhat as a consequence of the upright position in which primates hold their
heads.
As a hominid brain, the human brain is substantially enlarged even in comparison to the brain of a
typical monkey. The sequence of evolution from Australopithecus (four million years ago) to Homo
sapiens (modern man) was marked by a steady increase in brain size, particularly in the frontal
lobes, which are associated with a variety of high-level cognitive functions.
Humans and other primates have some differences in gene sequence, and genes are
differentially expressed in many brain regions. The functional differences between the human brain
and the brains of other animals also arise from many geneenvironment interactions.
[6]

Cerebral cortex[edit]


Bisection of the head of an adult female, showing the cerebral cortex, with its extensive folding, and the
underlying white matter
[7]

The dominant feature of the human brain is corticalization. The cerebral cortex in humans is so large
that it overshadows every other part of the brain. A few subcortical structures show alterations
reflecting this trend. The cerebellum, for example, has a medial zone connected mainly to
subcortical motor areas, and a lateral zone connected primarily to the cortex. In humans the lateral
zone takes up a much larger fraction of the cerebellum than in most other mammalian species.
Corticalization is reflected in function as well as structure. In a rat, surgical removal of the entire
cerebral cortex leaves an animal that is still capable of walking around and interacting with the
environment.
[8]
In a human, comparable cerebral cortex damage produces a permanent state
of coma. The amount of association cortex, relative to the other two categories, increases
dramatically as one goes from simpler mammals, such as the rat and the cat, to more complex ones,
such as the chimpanzee and the human.
[9]

The cerebral cortex is essentially a sheet of neural tissue, folded in a way that allows a large surface
area to fit within the confines of the skull. When unfolded, each cerebral hemisphere has a total
surface area of about 1.3 square feet (0.12 m
2
).
[10]
Each cortical ridge is called agyrus, and each
groove or fissure separating one gyrus from another is called a sulcus.
Cortical divisions[edit]
Four lobes[edit]


The four lobes of the cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex is nearly symmetrical with left and right hemispheres that are approximate mirror
images of each other. Each hemisphere is conventionally divided into four "lobes", thefrontal
lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe. With one exception, this division into lobes
does not derive from the structure of the cortex itself, though: the lobes are named after the bones of
the skull that overlie them, the frontal bone, parietal bone, temporal bone, and occipital bone. The
borders between lobes lie beneath the sutures that link the skull bones together. The exception is
the border between the frontal and parietal lobes, which lies behind the corresponding suture;
instead it follows the anatomical boundary of the central sulcus, a deep fold in the brain's structure
where the primary somatosensory cortex and primary motor cortex meet.
Because of the arbitrary way most of the borders between lobes are demarcated, they have little
functional significance. With the exception of the occipital lobe, a small area that is entirely dedicated
to vision, each of the lobes contains a variety of brain areas that have minimal functional
relationship. The parietal lobe, for example, contains areas involved in somatosensation, hearing,
language, attention, and spatial cognition. In spite of this heterogeneity, the division into lobes is
convenient for reference. The main functions of the frontal lobe are to control attention, abstract
thinking, behavior, problem solving tasks, and physical reactions and personality.
[11]
The occipital
lobe is the smallest lobe; its main functions are visual reception, visual-spatial processing,
movement, and color recognition.
[12]
The temporal lobe controls auditory and visual memories,
language, and some hearing and speech.
[11]

Major sulci and gyri[edit]


Major gyri and sulci on the lateral surface of the cortex


Lateral surface of the cerebral cortex


Medial surface of the cerebral cortex
Although there are enough variations in the shape and placement of gyri and sulci (cortical folds) to
make every brain unique, most human brains show sufficiently consistent patterns of folding that
allow them to be named. Many of the gyri and sulci are named according to the location on the lobes
or other major folds on the cortex. These include:
Superior, Middle, Inferior frontal gyrus: in reference to the frontal lobe
Medial longitudinal fissure, which separates the left and right cerebral hemispheres
Precentral and Postcentral sulcus: in reference to the central sulcus, which separates the frontal
lobe from the parietal lobe
Lateral sulcus, which divides the frontal lobe and parietal lobe above from the temporal lobe
below
Parieto-occipital sulcus, which separates the parietal lobes from the occipital lobes, is seen to
some small extent on the lateral surface of the hemisphere, but mainly on the medial surface.
Trans-occipital sulcus: in reference to the occipital lobe
Functional divisions[edit]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please
help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2011)
Researchers who study the functions of the cortex divide it into three functional categories of
regions. One consists of the primary sensory areas, which receive signals from thesensory
nerves and tracts by way of relay nuclei in the thalamus. Primary sensory areas include the visual
area of the occipital lobe, the auditory area in parts of the temporal lobeand insular cortex, and
the somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobe. A second category is the primary motor cortex, which
sends axons down to motor neurons in the brainstem and spinal cord.
[13]
This area occupies the rear
portion of the frontal lobe, directly in front of the somatosensory area. The third category consists of
the remaining parts of the cortex, which are called the association areas. These areas receive input
from the sensory areas and lower parts of the brain and are involved in the complex processes
ofperception, thought, and decision-making.
[14]

Cytoarchitecture[edit]


Brodmann's classification of areas of the cortex
Different parts of the cerebral cortex are involved in different cognitive and behavioral functions. The
differences show up in a number of ways: the effects of localized brain damage, regional activity
patterns exposed when the brain is examined using functional imaging techniques, connectivity with
subcortical areas, and regional differences in the cellular architecture of the
cortex. Neuroscientists describe most of the cortexthe part they call the neocortexas having six
layers, but not all layers are apparent in all areas, and even when a layer is present, its thickness
and cellular organization may vary. Scientists have constructed maps of cortical areas on the basis
of variations in the appearance of the layers as seen with a microscope. One of the most widely
used schemes came from Korbinian Brodmann, who split the cortex into 51 different areas and
assigned each a number (many of these Brodmann areas have since been subdivided). For
example, Brodmann area 1 is the primary somatosensory cortex, Brodmann area 17 is the primary
visual cortex, and Brodmann area 25 is the anterior cingulate cortex.
[15]

Topography[edit]


Topography of the primary motor cortex, showing which body part is controlled by each zone
Many of the brain areas Brodmann defined have their own complex internal structures. In a number
of cases, brain areas are organized into "topographic maps", where adjoining bits of the cortex
correspond to adjoining parts of the body, or of some more abstract entity. A simple example of this
type of correspondence is the primary motor cortex, a strip of tissue running along the anterior edge
of the central sulcus, shown in the image to the right. Motor areas innervating each part of the body
arise from a distinct zone, with neighboring body parts represented by neighboring zones. Electrical
stimulation of the cortex at any point causes a muscle-contraction in the represented body part. This
"somatotopic" representation is not evenly distributed, however. The head, for example, is
represented by a region about three times as large as the zone for the entire back and trunk. The
size of any zone correlates to the precision of motor control and sensory discrimination
possible.
[citation needed]
The areas for the lips, fingers, and tongue are particularly large, considering the
proportional size of their represented body parts.
In visual areas, the maps are retinotopicthat is, they reflect the topography of the retina, the layer
of light-activated neurons lining the back of the eye. In this case too the representation is uneven:
the foveathe area at the center of the visual fieldis greatly overrepresented compared to the
periphery. The visual circuitry in the human cerebral cortex contains several dozen distinct
retinotopic maps, each devoted to analyzing the visual input stream in a particular way.
[citation
needed]
The primary visual cortex (Brodmann area 17), which is the main recipient of direct input from
the visual part of the thalamus, contains many neurons that are most easily activated by edges with
a particular orientation moving across a particular point in the visual field. Visual areas farther
downstream extract features such as color, motion, and shape.
In auditory areas, the primary map is tonotopic. Sounds are parsed according to frequency (i.e., high
pitch vs. low pitch) by subcortical auditory areas, and this parsing is reflected by the primary auditory
zone of the cortex. As with the visual system, there are a number of tonotopic cortical maps, each
devoted to analyzing sound in a particular way.
Within a topographic map there can sometimes be finer levels of spatial structure. In the primary
visual cortex, for example, where the main organization is retinotopic and the main responses are to
moving edges, cells that respond to different edge-orientations are spatially segregated from one
another