cerebral cortex
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5.0
- noun
- /ˈsɛrəbrəl ˈkɔrtɛks/
- Specialized
:
corteza cerebral
- So even whilst we're wide awake, little areas of the cerebral cortex appear to be entering into a form of sleep.
- areas of the cerebral cortex
But this outer cerebral cortex is the seat of humanness.
- But this outer cerebral cortex is the seat of humanness.
- Could we intercept those signals from the brain, the cerebral cortex, as someone is trying to say those words?
- They have, they have the same neurons, the same neurons that that in a human become the cerebral cortex.
- and having the perm burned through my cerebral cortex.
Examples
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We're finding most of the haemorrhaging is coming from here, the outer layer of the cerebral cortex.
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- Massive damage to the cerebral cortex.
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That gives your old cerebral cortex a workout.
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When people were asked to perform a difficult task, their cerebral cortex lit up.
Academic text (1992) -
The cerebral cortex is the site of an extraordinary neuro-electric phenomenon.
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Many bacterial species are able to produce GABA, which is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human cerebral cortex.
Academic text (2018) -
The cerebral cortex is responsible for complex functions such as reasoning and decision-making.
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In humans, the cerebral cortex plays a crucial role in sensory perception and voluntary movement.
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Damage to the cerebral cortex can result in significant impairments in cognitive abilities.
Synonyms
64
7.2
The outer layer of the brain that controls thinking and reasoning
1
9.9
A layer of grey matter on the brain's surface that helps thinking
Layer of grey brain cells that forms the outer part and handles thinking and senses
How Emotional
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'cerebral' means 'of the cerebrum/brain' and 'cortex' means 'the outer layer', so together they denote the brain's outer layer. Although technical, this compound follows straightforward semantic composition and similar formations exist cross-linguistically, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
The term cerebral cortex comes from words that mean cerebral 'brain' and cortex 'bark', so imagine the brain with a thin outer layer like a tree's bark. This outer 'bark' is where the brain does higher jobs like thinking, seeing, and deciding, so the name helps us remember it is the brain's thinking surface.