Corpus Callosum

corpus callosum

[′kȯr·pəs kə′lō·səm]

(neuroscience)

A band of nerve tissue connecting the cerebral hemispheres in humans and higher mammals.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Corpus Callosum

 

in placental mammals and man, the aggregation of nerve fibers connecting the cerebral hemispheres.

The corpus callosum develops in the higher mammals from the commissure of the mantle (present in lung-fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and cloacal mammals) in connection with the strong development of the cerebral cortex. The fibers of the corpus callosum run mostly in a transverse direction, connecting and exchanging neural impulses between matching areas of the hemispheres. Therefore, both hemispheres together constitute a single unit. Fibers connecting different gyri in the two hemispheres also pass through the corpus callosum (for example, frontal with parietal or occipital). The fibers of the corpus callosum also send collaterals (associative fibers) to different parts of the same hemisphere.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.