Functionally, the cerebral cortex may be divided into the motor area, sensory area and association area.

Sensory areas receive sensory input, motor areas execute voluntary control over muscle movements and association areas provide more complex functions such as thinking, learning, decision-making, and complex movements like writing and speaking.

Anatomically, a deep fissure called the central sulcus separates the precentral gyrus anteriorly and postcentral gyrus posteriorly. These two folds correspond to the primary motor area and primary sensory area (or primary motor cortex and primary somatosensory cortex, respectively). Other areas and anatomical landmarks of the cerebral cortex also correspond with different brain functions.

The main functional areas of the cerebral cortex are as following:

Prefrontal cortex - responsible for thinking, planning, problem-solving, decision making other and other complex cognitive processes, as well as personality expression and moderating social behavior;
Somatomotor association area (motor association cortex) - provides coordination of complex movements;
Primary motor cortex - responsible for the initiation of voluntary movement;
Primary somatosensory cortex - receives tactile information from the body;
Somatosensory association area (sensory association cortex) - processes multisensory information;
Visual association area - provides complex processing of visual information;
Primary visual cortex - or simply visual cortex, responsible for the detection of simple visual stimuli;
Wernicke’s area - responsible for speech and language comprehension;
Auditory association area - provides complex processing of auditory information;
Primary auditory cortex - or simply auditory cortex, responsible for the detection of auditory stimuli and of sound quality, including loudness and tone;
Broca’s area - the motor speech area that provides speech production and articulation, transforming thoughts into speech.

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Functional areas of the cerebral cortex