What is the difference between the cerebral cortex and the cortical areas??

Question

or how are they related??

Answer 1

The cerebral cortex is a structure within the brain that plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. In dead, preserved brains, the outermost layer of the cerebrum has a grey color, hence the name grey matter. Grey matter is formed by neurons and their unmyelinated fibers, whereas the white matter below the grey matter of the cortex is formed predominantly by myelinated axons interconnecting different regions of the central nervous system. The human cerebral cortex is 2-4 mm (0.08-0.16 inches) thick.

The surface of the cerebral cortex is folded in large mammals, wherein more than two-thirds of the cortical surface is buried in the grooves, called "sulci." The phylogenetically most recent part of the cerebral cortex, the neocortex, is differentiated into six horizontal layers; the more ancient part of the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus (also called archicortex), has at most three cellular layers, and is divided into subfields. Relative variations in thickness or cell type (among other parameters) allow us to distinguish between different neocortical architectonic fields. The geometry of these fields seems to be related to the anatomy of the cortical folds, and, for example, layers in the upper part of the cortical grooves (called gyri) are more clearly differentiated than in its deeper parts (called sulci).

A cortical area is a part of the cerebral cortex

Functionally Defined

Often, a cortical area is functionally defined, i.e. its neurons share certain distinguishing functional properties. For example, they are activated by the same category of stimuli or seem to be involved in similar cognitive tasks, that are different from the stimuli or tasks that activate neurons in the neighboring areas.

Anatomically Defined

Alternatively, cortical areas can be defined histo-anatomically, like the Brodmann areas. In some cases, both types of definition yield identical areas. An example is the primary visual cortex, or V1, which is identical to Brodmann area 17.

Connections between Areas

Connections between cortical areas can be direct (cortico-cortical) or indirect (e.g. via the thalamus or basal ganglia).

Answer 2

All  mental  activities are confined to CORTICAL AREAS

while physiological functioneing  governed by CEREBTAL

CORTEX,BOTH HAVE  THEIR UNIQUE IMPORTANCE.TEQUIRED BOTH .

Answer 3

they are both required to function normally. though the cerebral areas are more for the essential things like breathing, heart rate, body temp etc, whereas the cortical areas are for thinking, planning motor control etc. less critical stuff.

Answer 4

The cerebrum is the biggest part of the brain.

The cerebral cortex is a thin layer on the surface of the cerebrum where most higher functions (e.g. language, thought, etc) occur.

A cortical area is a particular area of the cerebral cortex with a particular function (e.g. Broca's area or the Primary Visual Cortex).

Hope this helps.