ALPHABETICAL BRAIN VOCABULARY Flash Card #16 Details WHAT IS YOUR "CEREBRAL CORTEX" AND WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT? Your CEREBRAL CORTEX (or "cover") consists of the three thin outer layers of your brain where most of your brain's "information processing" occurs. This area consists of the gray colored nuclei of billions of your NEURONS, which are very closely packed together. That is why they are called "gray matter," since they contain the nuclei of the billions of NEURONS, which are in your brain and spinal cord, including all of your neural pathways and your neuron networks. The huge size of our CEREBRAL CORTEX, comparatively speaking, to all other animals in proportion to the size of their bodies, distinguishes you from all other animals! The top layer is called your "neo cortex." Source note = page 208 of the book, Scientific American Book of the Brain Return to #16: CEREBRAL CORTEX or BRAIN FACTS MATRIX