Levels of anatomical description within the cerebral cortex

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 

The anatomical parcellation of the cerebral cortex into brain areas is foundational to cognitive and systems neuroscience. I will critically explore the neuroanatomical foundations of areal parcellation, incorporating cytoarchitecture, connectivity, and transcriptomics. I argue that the brain area, as it is generally understood, is just one of several equally important organizing principles of the cerebral cortex. Other organizations include macroscale gradients, distributed networks, layers, and patchy and columnar structures at multiple scales.