Cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex represents the outermost tissue layer within the forebrain (aka as cerebrum) of vertebrates. Together with the basal ganglia and the olfactory bulb, it forms the gray matter of the brain which contains large numbers of nerve cell bodies and is connected by white matter, characterized by myelinated nerve fibres. The thickness of the cerebral cortex varies between different regions, with values from around 2mm to 4mm. Changes in cortical thickness correlate with both brain maturation and aging and are especially pronounced in dementia.