To create our perceptions, we need to perceive and process information storing as memories. The cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain, is responsible for information processing, sensation, and voluntary muscle movement. Memories lasting mere milliseconds are called immediate (short-term) memories and are made of sensory input received in specialized parts of the cortex, which are then passed and kept available in working memory for several seconds.
|
Motion & Sensations | |
|---|---|
| As you move the mouse to navigate through Dr. Detzler’s website, the sections of the cortex that handle touch, visual information, and body motion are working together to coordinate your movement. Sensations are processed in somatosensory cortex, while voluntary body movements are controlled in the motor cortex that is part of the frontal lobe. |
Whether an object feels soft or hard, cold or hot, wet or dry, it is determined by the somatosensory cortex. Different parts of the body are associated with different sections of the cortex. Parts of the body with greater degree of sensitivity such as the hands occupy larger areas of the cortex.
Motor Cortex
Signals originating from this region make muscles contract and move our body. Like the somatosensory cortex, different parts of the body are associated with different sections of the cortex, with regions that have a greater degree of precision movement occupying a larger area of the cortex. (The left hemisphere controls body parts on the right.)
|
Visual Information | |
|---|---|
| As you moved the cursor to reveal this text, your visual cortex was processing motion, form, and colour information received from your retina to interpret and consciously understand what you are currently reading. |
|
Auditory Information | |
|---|---|
| When you listen to music, or to someone speak, this region is working to decipher the information. The region known as the temporal lobe deals with several functions, including language. Audio information processing and auditory memory are handled here. |
|
Thought & Reasoning | |
|---|---|
| The prefrontal cortex gets information from the other parts of the cortex and keeps it available for immediate use (if asked what you’re reading about, you’d say “Dr. Detzler’s website”) and coordinates its use by other parts of the cortex. It keeps thoughts in the mind for seconds, enough time to allow us to put together sentences, solve problems, and plan ahead. |