Page 45 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

The Intelligent Mind • 29

Sulci Gyri

Figure 2-3 Top view of the brain showing both hemispheres

The grooves and folds, named sulci and gyri, respectively,
that appear on the surface of the cortex are used as land-
marks or reference points to locations within the brain (see
Figure 2-3).

sulci—grooves in the cortex
gyri—folds in the cortex

One of the deepest of the sulci divides the cortex from
the front to the back into two hemispheres. The two hemi-
spheres are connected primarily by a thick bundle of nerves
named the corpus callosum, (See Figure 2-4).
Just as bodies have the same general configuration (the
head bone’s connected to the neck bone, the neck bone’s
connected to the shoulder bone...), everybody’s brain has
the same anatomical parts. Each of us has two hemispheres,
a corpus callosum, grooves, and folds. These grooves (sulci)
and folds (gyri) are so standardized in location that they are
used as landmarks or reference points to locations and ac-
tivities within the brain.