A new area of the cerebral cortex has evolved to enable man and higher primates to pick up small objects and deftly use tools, according to neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Pittsburgh's Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

A brain imaging study carried out at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) reveals abnormalities in the cortex – the outer surface of the brain – of cocaine addicts that appear to correlate with dysfunction in areas responsible for attention and for reward-based decision-making.

Researchers report the most complete list so far of the proteins present in the cerebral cortex – the outermost layer of the brain that plays a central role in memory, language, cognition, and consciousness.

Researchers discover a protein required for the normal development of the cerebral cortex and to prevent defects associated with mental retardation

Subplate neurons – once thought to die after directing the wiring of the cerebral cortex or gray matter– remain in the white matter of the adult brain in small numbers and maintain activity, communicating with other neurons in the brain said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Alabama at Birmingham in a report.

Large mammals--humans, monkeys, and even cats--have brains with a somewhat mysterious feature: The outermost layer has a folded surface. Understanding the functional significance of these folds is one of the big open questions in neuroscience.