What does the cerebral cortex do?

The cerebral cortex has many functions, including receiving sensory information and allowing for higher-level association since it covers much of the brain. It is the brain's outer covering and spans the left and right hemispheres.

The cerebral cortex, which is divided into three functional areas, is involved in receiving sensory information such as visual, auditory and tactile data. It sends this information to other parts of the brain for processing. The cerebral cortex also has regions of association. These regions allow the brain to function at a higher level and are involved with memory, language, creativity, emotion, attention, judgement and abstraction.