CHAPTER II 



THE PROBLEM OF THE CEREBRAL 

 CORTEX 



Upon the equilibrium theory of consciousness it is not 

 difficult to conceive that the tendency to coordinate and fuse 

 various stimuli into one form of activity must be perpetually 

 present^ and as a matter of fact the most striking peculiarity 

 of mental action is this same law of mental composition 

 which finds its highest expression in what is called apper- 

 ceptive action. 



— C. L. Herrick 



HAVING now indicated in a sketchy way the 

 general point of view from which this in- 

 quiry takes its departure, we naturally ask, 

 Just what is this cerebral cortex in whose proper 

 activity we have so keen a personal interest and which 

 plays so large a part in human welfare and progress ? 

 And how did it come into being, and what is its 

 general biological and social significance? These 

 questions cannot be fully answered. But sufficient 

 progress has been made to justify a general survey 

 of the problem of the cerebral cortex in its biological 

 and human aspects. 



The cerebral cortex makes up about half the total 

 weight of the human brain; it is the most conspicuous 

 and characteristic part of it; and physiologically it 

 clearly dominates and controls the activities, not only 

 of the remainder of the brain, but of the body as a 



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