Thecortex of the brain or of another organ is its outer layer.
[medicine]
...the cerebral cortex.
cortex in British English
(ˈkɔːtɛks)
nounWord forms: plural-tices (-tɪˌsiːz)
1. anatomy
the outer layer of any organ or part, such as the grey matter in the brain that covers the cerebrum (cerebral cortex) or the outer part of the kidney (renal cortex)
2. botany
a.
the unspecialized tissue in plant stems and roots between the vascular bundles and the epidermis
b.
the outer layer of a part such as the bark of a stem
Derived forms
cortical (ˈkɔːtɪkəl)
adjective
cortically (ˈcortically)
adverb
Word origin
C17: from Latin: bark, outer layer
cortex in American English
(ˈkɔrˌtɛks)
nounWord forms: pluralˈcortiˌces (ˈkɔrtəˌsiz)
1.
a.
the outer part or external layers of an internal organ, as of the kidney or the adrenal glands
b.
the outer layer of gray matter over most of the brain
2. Botany
a.
a layer of tissue in the roots and stems of dicotyledonous plants, located between the stele and epidermis
b. Loosely
any layer of stem tissue external to the xylem
c.
an outer layer of tissue in certain algae, lichens, and fungi
3. Pharmacy
the bark or rind of a plant
Word origin
L, bark of a tree: see corium
Examples of 'cortex' in a sentence
cortex
This produces activity in the motor cortex of the brain, the area that controls physical movements.
Computing (2010)
It floods the frontal cortex not with policy but with personality.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In adolescence hormonal changes have an effect on the frontal cortex of the brain.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The other part of the brain that remains active is the visual association cortex.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The chip is inserted into the cerebral cortex.
The Sun (2009)
The only normal areas are the visual cortex and those at the back of the brain that store memories.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The troops would hear the message either in a microphone or through electrodes placed in the auditory cortex of their brains.
The Times Literary Supplement (2014)
The visual cortex was permanently damaged.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
That we are our cerebral cortex.
Christianity Today (2000)
That's enough of a gap for the auditory cortex of our brain to process the information.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The third phase of evolution produced the learning brain: the cerebral cortex.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Most of the thinking takes place in the surface part of the brain, the cerebral cortex.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Humans have the largest cerebral cortex of all mammals, relative to the size of their brains.
The Sun (2014)
That is one interpretation of a study on mice that observed changes in the animals' frontal cortex following exposure to the drug.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
It turns out that I have three times more activity in my right frontal cortex than my left.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
These two sounds are linked, respectively, with the visual cortex and the motor cortex.
The Times Literary Supplement (2008)
Line, too, is processed in one particular part of the visual cortex.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
And strangely, deep in a dusty fold of my cerebral cortex, something stirred.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
In addition, offering rewards will not work because he is too young and his frontal cortex still too immature to enable an understanding of this concept.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
He looked, and in the back of the model of his brain, the visual cortex flared with orange light.
Zindell, David The Broken God (1993)
The lovers' brains also showed considerably lower activity in large parts of the cerebral cortex, which are involved in judgment.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Only, the ship computer would infuse images directly into his visual cortex, directly into the neurons at the back of his brain.
Zindell, David The Broken God (1993)
Word lists with
cortex
terms used in botany
All related terms of 'cortex'
motor cortex
the region of the cerebral cortex concerned with transmitting impulses to the voluntary muscles
visual cortex
the portion of the cerebral cortex of the brain that receives and processes impulses from the optic nerves
cerebral cortex
the outermost layer of the cerebrum that is the locus of higher brain processes
sensory cortex
the region of the cerebral cortex concerned with receiving and interpreting sensory information from various parts of the body
associative cortex
the part of the cortex that does not have direct connections to the senses or motor system and is thought to be involved in higher mental processes