Brodmann area
Overview
Cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different...
defined based on its cytoarchitectonics
Cytoarchitectonics of the cerebral cortex
The cytoarchitectonics of the cerebral cortex is the study of neuronal cell bodies cytoarchitecture in the cerebral cortex of the brain.-History:...
, or structure and organization of cells.
Brodmann areas were originally defined and numbered by the German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
anatomist Korbinian Brodmann
Korbinian Brodmann
Korbinian Brodmann was a German neurologist who became famous for his definition of the cerebral cortex into 52 distinct regions from their cytoarchitectonic characteristics.-Life:...
based on the cytoarchitectural organization of neuron
Neuron
A neuron is an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information by electrical and chemical signaling. Chemical signaling occurs via synapses, specialized connections with other cells. Neurons connect to each other to form networks. Neurons are the core components of the nervous...
s he observed in the cerebral cortex using the Nissl
Franz Nissl
Franz Nissl was a German medical researcher. He was a noted neuropathologist.-Early life:...
stain. Brodmann published his maps of cortical areas in humans, monkeys, and other species in 1909, along with many other findings and observations regarding the general cell types and laminar organization of the mammalian cortex.
