Association cortices

In the brain we have primary areas (motor area, somatosensory area,

auditory area, olfaction, taste and visual area) these areas are known as
specific areas. These are make less than 10% of the total area of the brain.
Whats the function of the remaining area of the brain? Why do we call it
association area?
We talked previously about phrenology, this tendency to assign specific
functions to parts of the brain. It happens that phrenology is a kind of .
because we cannot look to the skull and tell this person is smart or
aggressive this is really anti-science by definition.
Between the 2 tendencies, first tendency that was empirical and another
extreme tendency claiming that all areas in the brain are equivalent and can
do everything. (this theory was predominant in the 19th century until an
incident happened and was published about a patient (broccas patient) who
last the ability to communicate in spoken words and after his death they
made an autopsy and they found that an area of his brain is missing and
since that time this area was labeled broccas area.
From this clinical observation, neuroscientist started to admit the idea that
silent or association areas can play a major role in organizing the integrated
information and organizing the so called higher functions of the brain.
When we look here based on more model approach and some research work
on human (but mostly on experiments performed on animals and specifically
on primates) we know nowadays that we have primary areas and in the
neighboring there is unimodal association areas. For example we have motor
and premotor areas, we have somatosensory area and in the neighborhood
primary association area associated to this area, so on for vision and
audition.
Then we have a transition to the major association areas (core association
area) that make the largest part of the human brain. (yellow area)
What is the design of the function of these association areas?
we have superior longitudinal bundle and an inferior longitudinal bundle. One
associating visual to frontal and one associating prefrontal to temporal and
vision. These areas, major areas, multimodal association areas are involved
in the integration of information coming from everywhere (not from one
modalitity). And whenever u say not from one modality also space and time
factors can intervene. We have integration of information not by association
visual auditory or tactil also by comparing the actual sensation to a past
experience. Here another dimension will intervene, we have the present with
multisensory input in addition to this vertical dimension that means time,

memory and learning. So these areas are involved in the integration of

information to give a final answer, perception, idea or solution.
If we want to make an extremely simplified diagram of the work of these
areas, we start by a unimodel sensory input a visual or tactile or olfactory
input. We start by one modality, this modality will go to a higher order
sensory cortex but still unimodal in the same area. Then it will be transferred
to the association areas, these association areas can be limbic or can be the
remaining which is multisosnsory perceived and from all of these, all the
information will be transferred to the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex
will feed info the premotor cortex, supplementary motor cortex then going to
the motor cortex. Here we have the final end result of the processing of all
the info.
Here is not only simple motricity like walking also writing speaking,
designing, playing music, every single higher fct in our brain will be
expressed ultimately through the output of the cerebral cortex.
Lets start with the prefrontal cortex because this is the area where the end
result of all info will come here. Look here im taking only mammalians look at
the prefrontal lobe the human brain and the scull are characterized by
frontalization. The frontal lobe make 1/3 of the total area of the brain. Why
do we have this important prefrontal lobe? We have dorsolateral and inferior
part of it. In the end of the inferior part we have the orbitofrontal that make a
kind of a bridge between conscious somatic and limbic fcts, The interface
between voluntary perceived somatic association areas and going to the
limbic fct.
Most of our work is performed on nonhuman.
For example for this monkey, we see here the lateral and ventral inferior
views of his prefrontal area. We have a dorsolateral convexity and an inferior
prefrontal convexity separated by the principle sulcus. And we have the
orbito-frontal cortex.
Working on a monkey we have some tests. In this test here we have 2
containers, we put in one of them food pellet then we close on the mokey for
certain time. So this is a delay task test. After few seconds or minutes u open
the screen and the monkey is allowed to search for the food. After one or two
trainings the monkey will be able to find the food without any error. Why?
Because he can conserve in his brain for a certain time a memory, he can
learn that food pellet was hidden here and he can get it. This is delay, you
have only time.
On the other side u have time and space. Look how can w asses these.
Here we have 2 containers one of them is labeled, the exepiment hides the
food pellet in the labeled container then close the screen and change the

position of the container and after a while we have a delay in time and also
to remember the place and the monkey can succed in doing that.
How can we explain that?
If we put a microelectrode in the dorsal convexity of the brain of this monkey
to record the activity of some samples, we can see in the recording of the
first trial the neurons have a very small firing before the delay(during the
cue) but during the delay the neurons are firing all the time. In the 2nd trial
the basal firing of neurons continue to be a little bit higher. In trial nb 4 we
can conclude that the firing of this neuron is related to memory formation,
the neuron continue to fire for seconds and minutes to keep it raise and to
allow the animal to find back what is interesting to him to accomplish a task.
So in able to accomplish a task u need to integrate many info(visual info to
store it somewhere and after a while to be able to recall this info and to do
the task and coordinate different mvt). This a first indication that in this area
we have cells that are related to memory formation.
This another example in training a monkey
We put an object in the corner of the screen we can see that when the
monkey start tho stare the activity of the neurons where not very high when
the target disappears there is imp firing, in the brain of the monkey there is
sthg firing in response to the past experience. Now if the monkey is allowed
to move his eyes instead of fixing them, cell firing will disappears. This mean
that we have in the superior convexity neurons that function in correlating
visual cues to make a kind of memory to these cues and to coordinate, to be
involved in putting strategies to achieve a goal or task. This the so called
coordinated and adjusted behavior. In all of our behavior we put a plan and
this plan is based on multisensory info coming and memory plus taking into
consideration the space. So we can plan our trajectory, our tricks, and our
works. So it seems that the dorsal superior prefrontal convexity is extremely
important in all of these scenarios. This is area is very important for putting
strategies in playing chest.
Doing these experiments in the monkey if we produce a small electrical
stimulation in this area through the microelectrode the performance of the
monkey will improve. If we inject in this area a dopaminergic antagonist (we
have mesostriatum mesolimbic and mesocortical) the dopaminergic neurons
send an important supply to this area. So if we inject dopaminergic
antagonist by injecting 5-hydroxydopamine, the monkey will never be able to
accomplish any task. All the performance will become random.
If we destroy the area of the principle sulcus, the monkey will fail to do
anything. So this area contain neurons that are involved in planning behavior
according to time and space and using multisensory input and past
experience and learning.

In the area of inferior convexity doing the same experiment on the monkey,
if we destroy this area the monkey will not be able to do any task with or
without delay, changing space or without changing space. So as a final
conclusion, this area is an extremely important area although it seems to be
a silent area in our brain it is an extremely important area for humans to
navigate in space and time and to coordinate all of their activity in space and
time and to adjust to anything that can happen in their environment.
Final example about this area, in a functional recording (based on blood flow)
of the brain at rest of a normal volunteer and a schizophrenic patient, we can
see the difference between them, (yellow mean the activity red is the max)
at rest for the schizophrenic patient didnt have any activity in this region( in
contrast to normal person) but he has hallucination ( activity in the visual
area) his not in contact with the reality.
For the orbito-frontal area its an interface between the conscious behavior,
planning, memory, learning and all kind of internal regulations.
We have limbic association areas in the orbito-frontal and temporal lobes, in
the temporal lobe we have essentially memory.
Lets talk about the orbito-frontal lobe its for planning and emotional
behavior. remember this important input,in this nucleus more than 1/3 of our
talents are made by the medial groove and this medial groove is connected
to the prefrontal lobe.
How can we know about it?
This is the case of a worker used to be foreman of a company, this foreman
injure his brain by an explosion. Just after the accident he was awake he
could talk and communicate with people. After few days when he recovered
his performance was not impaired at all (learning, speech ...) but he showed
some abnormal behavior, after a while the company dismissed him due to
irresponsible behavior. As if that in that area in the brain that does not affect
learning there is matching between the individual behavior with the social
behavior, ethics, cultures and learning past experience. It means that this
area is an extremely important area that can make an interface between our
past experience, our culture, our social standards with our internal means
like eating, drinking, playing, sexual behavior and matting have to be adjust
with the social behavior. Otherwise if u find an eldery that is not adjusted
with the environment we can say hes becoming frontalnoch???
In addition to that social adjustment is related directly to complying with the
social behavior and self discipline and to be able to deal with other people.
An extreme example of defect in dealing with the environment is aggression.
During a scientific meating in 1960s a scientinst (jackobson) made
demonstration, showed to the society he can tamp a wild animal to become

without any sign of aggression by cutting this area of his brain (the
cingulated area and part of this frontal area) by cutting this area we ca tamp
the animal and remove aggression and by that the animal can adjust with
the environment. As that meeting a neurosurgeon was fascinated by the idea
and started to this operation on criminals and patients suffering from some
diseases. The neurosurgeon at this time claimed that the patient will not lose
any fct but is being control. But in reality the patient will become flat, inert
without iniative complete change in his personality.
An example that can happens to many people governors and administrators
in our environment, someone subjected to this neurosurgery, the simple task
can become very difficult. Like playing a roulette we inform the patient that
he has to gamble on the shape, and if he picks this shape he will win. He
starts gambling and winning money, then the strategy changes and we
change the shape but he insist to continue gambling on the old shape and
losing money. Despite changing the shape and informing him about the
change he continues to pick the old shape. What does it mean that? When
we hit this area of the prefrontal lobe we lose some flexibility and some
autoregulatory mechanisms as if we are suffering from a kind of cerebral
rigidity, so we lose the wisdom of judging and the ability to adjust with the
new environment.

Temporal lobe: Memory

We have the memory corridor, we have based on experimentation on humans and on animal
some areas in the inner temporal lobe are based on emotions and fear.
We have visual and auditory memory and we have language, most of our knowledge was gained
based on a pioneer experiment made by Pantheon. He was doing experiments on awake patients
if you do stimulation on the inferior temporal lobe the patients will report to you that he is seeing
flashes or a strips of a film. If you go a little bit inside the parahippocampal gyrus the patient will
show fear or emotional behavior.
As a summing up based on animals and based on humans and pathological cases.
1. Inferior temporal: visual learning

A patient having a lesion in the medioventral temporal cortex (The ventral aspect, if you
remember the occipito-temporal gyrus separated from the parahipocampal gyrus by the collateral
sulcus.) If a patient is having a trouble here and you place in front of him an image he can draw it
but cannot identify it. This area is the area for visual identification of visual image thus mainly
for facial recognition. Patients having trouble in this area will suffer from prosopagnosia they
can tell you I have 4 kids and will be able to remember all the details about them (their grades
age,.) but he cannot recognize their faces even he cannot evoke their names. This area is for
integration of the visual image with a shape or language (spoken or written).
2. Superior temporal: Auditory learning
The superior part is for auditory learning. If we have a bilateral temporal lobotomy for some
tough cases of temporal epilepsy this suregery will do a complete change in the personality of the
patient. This is a cross section of the human brain.

This is taken from a soldier who took a bullet that destroyed the hipocample formation and the
amygdalum, the patient will suffer from a Kluver-bucy syndrome. Extreme docility, temptation
to put everything in his mouth excessive perverted sexual behavior and difficulties to adjust to
the environment. If we do the loboctomy without amygdalum we will lose the ability to acquire
new memories. If you impair the hippocampal formation the patient or animal will not be able to
make new memory. Learning is making new memory and this happens to elderly patients, they
can talk to you about their memory very old memories but they cannot recall something that
happened a week ago, because they cannot add to their old memory. The resistance with time to
do new learning is due to aging sometimes.
This area is important to learning and related to hearing.
Left brain is related to auditory input and to language while the right area is related to listening to
music.

This is taken from a schizophrenic patient and a normal patient. The schizophrenic patient has
his hippoccampal formation shrunk and the ventricles enlarged. People suffering from
schizophrenia, although they tend to start outstanding in their intelligence, but after some time
they will become confused and will not be able to retain new memory and adjust to the
environment.
For the remaining parieto-visual areas the sensory areas:
Parietal lobe: Higher sensory function & language
- Lesion ------ body image
- Attention to the spatial aspect of sensory input

- Damage to left: aphasia; agnosia; astereognosia

They are involved in visual, somatosensory and auditory information. We know

about cases of dislepcia where patients have a difficulty in associating visual
information with somatosensory or auditoryThis is based on clinical observation.
People having problems in this area will suffer from aphasia, agnosia and astereognosia.
Aphasia (cannot speak properly)
Agnosia: (cannot identify objects properly)

Astereognosia (they cannot identify objects by simple touch).

Also will have:
Gerstmann's syndrome
1. confusion left right
2. finger agnosia

3. disgraphia
4. discalculia
We know about the Grestamanns syndrome whenever you have an infection in the
left hemisphere and related to this pareito-oxcipito-temporal area (angular and the supra

marginal gyry and the area of auditory integration: wernicks area) this will lead to confusion
left right, inabitity to identify the opposite part of the body some patients can tell you someone is
putting their leg on my leg, I want to remove it and they cannot pinpoint or identify a point in
their body, they cannot do accurate drawing due to bad mental calculations.
Damage to right: hemi-neglect of the left side
From people suffering from the right hemisphere, they show the syndrome of hemi-neglect they
neglect the opposite (left space).
Here a patients drawing first he is completely denying the left side, after 3 months some parts
are still missing, after 9 months of treatment he is able to draw full drawing but still some parts
are still missing. These patients can wear their jackets on one side and totally neglect the other or
even shave one side of face.
Here this shows that we have an area in the brain that is related to spatial representation.
V. Hemispheric Asymmetry
We know that our cerebral hemispheres are not completely symmetrical. Volume wise external
grossmodal shape they are the same but they are not symmetrical. How do we assess the
asymmetry? We have many tests: Planum temporal, sodium amytal test, tachistoscopy, dichotic
auditory task.
A. planum temporale

In one of the patients I will show you by taking the brain like the brains u have in ur lab. you
open the lateral fissure and see the gyry of heichel on the superior edge of the lateral fissure
behind you see this area here this area is extremely imp on the left area not the right this is
related to language (you know in language we have both spoken language and hearing) this area
needs both integration between speech and hearing to identify the words if we have a
disconnection we could have incoherent speech this can open the way.
B. Lateralization of higher functions
The Na amytal test
a. Handedness and speech
To test the language brocas area in peoples brain. in normal people scientists use a practice they
used to inject small injections of amytal in the left or right carotid arteries there is no mixing
between blood in the left and right carotid arteries.
If you inject amytal in the left carotid artery and you ask the patient to talk aload after few
seconds he will stop.
If you put 5 times the doze in the right carotid artery he will keep on talking because ammital is
hitting through the left carotid area the broccas area in left area. This is used to assess the
location of broccas area in humans.
Follow this table

b. Mood
left: depression
right: euphoria
When you inject amytal in the left carotid the patient can also get a little bit depressed if you put
the same doze through the right carotid patients will become euphorical( mental and emotional condition in
which a person experiences intense feelings of well-being, elation, happiness, excitement, and joy) .some patients that have a
stroke in the right hemisphere they are happy they want to go out of the bed and fall down
(irresponsible).
So even for the mood we have a kind of asymmetry between left and right.

C. Tachistoscopy

If we try this techiscopytest, images coming from ur extreme left visual field
will fall on ur nasal retina and will be transmitted to right cerebral
hemisphere and vice versa. If u ask a volunteer to name something sitting on
the extreme right visual field, he can name it easily, because it will go to the
left cerebral hemisphere where we have the language area but if we put the
same test in the extreme left visual field he will have difficulties in naming it.
If we do a calostomi , cut the corpus collusum, the patient will not be able to
name objects sitting in the left visual field. He can identify them (draw them)
but he cant name them because we need corpus collusum (remember the
major forceps) this is to transfer the information from right to left. Because
the right cerebral hemisphere is mute and left cerebral hemisphere is
disconnected from the right.
This is also for hearing, right cerebral hemisphere is mute. Language area in
most of the population are sitting in the left hemisphere but right cerebral
hemisphere is specialized in arts drawings and kinds of shapes patterns
hearing music. So we have a kind of asymmetry between left and right. This
doesnt mean dominance. It is a kind of a migration of function to have more
space for each function.

An example of this conflict between the right and left cerebrum, this complex
was observed in patients having colostomy due to accidents or sever
epilepsy. They were subjected to operation of separating their two cerebral
hemispheres. We do a mid-sagital cut in the corpus cerebral hemisphere, the
patient will have no problems for things in the front but things in the extreme

visual field will make problem for him. It is not only for the patient, u see the
patient can for something coming from the extreme right visual field, he can
indicate it and name it. But something sitting on the extreme left visual field,
he cant name it.
Try to read the colors, can u make it :P!!

You will fail in most of the tests, this is an example of a conflict. Now if u look
at it from outside, you will fail totally from the extreme visual field. Here it is
in front of you and ur failing. it is not a dominancy, here if I want to give u a
final statement this is not left dominating right, this is right dominating left.
You cant read it, u have the color impression dominating your verbal
reading. We have at any moment a kind of integration and a division of work
between left and right hemisphere. Why do we have this? This does not
exist only in human, in birds u know about experiment , there are singing
birds they can learn songs.

If u do a destruction of the left hemisphere, the animal will stop singing, after
relearning he can go back to singing. If u destroy both hemispheres it will go
away. If u do the opposite, u destroy the right cerebral hemisphere, the
animal will continue singing , this means that we have lateralization of the
capacity. This lateralization of capacity is found in humans but it is not
necessarily a given after birth or during embryonic life because new born
babies they sometimes tend to show lateralization to left and right and to
start speaking. And some of the babies will be left handed while others will
be right handed. Dont try at all to force the baby to use the right hand, it is
absolutely wrong. It is shown it is a kind of random distribution between left
and right cerebral hemisphere. During critical ages, and after two 3 years , if
an accident happens to the baby, the language area and the handiness can
shift easily from left to right or from right to left. But these can happen
during critical periods during post embryonic development, later on we lose
this ability. This is why the mother language is important
So we have distribution of work between the two hemispheres and no
dominance.
During early life, we still have this ability and flexibility to shift a function
from one side to another. But we can lose this ability after a certain time
during early childhood.