How the Body Works : Human Information Processing

Human Information Processing This illustration shows the organization of the nerve cells responsible for human information processing, the vertical and horizontal position of the fibers, and the position of the blood vessels within the cortex. The convoluted covering gives it a large surface area within the restricted confines of the skull. The cerebral cortex is responsible for receiving, interpreting and storing information from the body and its external environment and organizing relevant responses to the incoming messages. Convolutions are the folds on the cortex. Each "hill" is a gyrus and each "valley" is a sulcus. The hills and valleys give the brain its wrinkled appearance. Fusiform, basket and stellate cells are all types of neurons present in the cortex. They communicate with each other and sift and sort out incoming information. Horizontal cells are found only in the top layer of the cortex. They communicate with the vertical fibers emerging from the depths of the cortex. Pyramidal cells have long axons which transmit information out of the cortex. Afferent fibers bring information from the body and sense organs into the cortex, where they are connected with the neurons that process it. Martinotti cells are found throughout the cortex. They are small cells with one long axon which runs vertically upward. Glial cells, or neuroglia , support and bind all the nerve cells together. They provide nutrition for the cells that they surround. It is not known if they are concerned with processing information.