Brain area
A brain area is understood to be a spatially delimitable area of the cerebrum . A main approach to brain research is to divide the neocortex into anatomically or functionally distinguishable regions. These areas are then sometimes further examined as “building blocks” of brain function. This gave rise to various theories of localization .
The existence of anatomical differences within the cerebrum has always been undisputed and was mainly promoted by Korbinian Brodmann (1868–1918). Its division scheme by numbering individual areas of the human neocortex is still in use today.
Regional differences in brain function are also no longer questioned these days. There are several areas in the back of the head (the so-called visual cortex ), for example, primarily involved in the visual process , while other areas appear to be responsible for other senses , movement planning and control or other mental functions. Damage to individual areas can consequently lead to the failure of individual functions (such as blindness in the event of damage to the visual cortex) without affecting other mental abilities.
To date, however, no uniform divisions of the brain into functional areas have been established. The reason for this is that the modularity of the brain seems to be limited to a few basic functions, while most of the mental processes cannot be limited to a single area. The anatomical and functional divisions of the brain often differ significantly from one another, so that it is not possible to functionally separate areas from one another.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Karl F. Masuhr, Florian Masuhr, Marianne Neumann: Neurology (= dual series of neurology ). Thieme, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-13-151697-8 , pp. 516 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ DU Silverthorn: Physiology . Pearson Germany, 2009, ISBN 978-3-8273-7333-5 , pp. 474 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).