The Isocortex of Man

Abstract

The immediate reason why the authors decided to embark on this investigation of the human cerebral cortex lies in their previous work on the macaque and chimpanzee. These previous studies were undertaken to lend precision to the results of physiological neuronography performed on these primates and was to be applied, it was hoped, to man. In the course of their studies, it became clear that the precise homology of which they had dreamed could be achieved only when maps of all three primates, man, chimpanzee, and macaque, had been drawn by the same observers. The authors also point out that contrary to the commonly accepted idea the number of brains that have been adequately studied from the cytoarchitectonic viewpoint is small. In addition, some of the reports in the literature are based on the study of brains that were removed several to many hours after death and not properly fixed.