The same structures are present in other mammals, although they vary considerably in relative

size. As a rule, the smaller the cerebrum, the less convoluted the cortex. The cortex of a rat or
mouse is almost perfectly smooth. The cortex of a dolphin or whale, on the other hand, is more
convoluted than the cortex of a human.
The living brain is very soft, having a consistency similar to soft gelatin or soft tofu. Although
referred to as grey matter, the live cortex is pinkish-beige in color and slightly off-white in the
interior.

General features

Human brain viewed through a mid-line incision

The human brain has many properties that are common to all vertebrate brains, including a basic
division into three parts called the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain, with interconnected fluidfilled ventricles, and a set of generic vertebrate brain structures including the medulla oblongata
and pons of the brainstem, the cerebellum, optic tectum, thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia,
olfactory bulb, and many others.
As a mammalian brain, the human brain has special features that are common to all mammalian
brains, most notably a six-layered cerebral cortex and a set of structures associated with it,
including the hippocampus and amygdala. All vertebrates have a forebrain whose upper surface
is covered with a layer of neural tissue called the pallium, but in all except mammals the pallium
has a relatively simple three-layered cell structure. In mammals it has a much more complex sixlayered cell structure, and is given a different name, the cerebral cortex. The hippocampus and
amygdala also originate from the pallium, but are much more complex in mammals than in other
vertebrates.
As a primate brain, the human brain has a much larger cerebral cortex, in proportion to body
size, than most mammals, and a very highly developed visual system. The shape of the brain
within the skull is also altered somewhat as a consequence of the upright position in which
primates hold their heads.

As a hominid brain, the human brain is substantially enlarged even in comparison to the brain of
a typical monkey. The sequence of evolution from Australopithecus (four million years ago) to
Homo sapiens (modern man) was marked by a steady increase in brain size, particularly in the
frontal lobes, which are associated with a variety of high-level cognitive functions.
Humans and other primates have some differences in gene sequence, and genes are differentially
expressed in many brain regions. The functional differences between the human brain and the
brains of other animals also arise from many geneenvironment interactions.[7]

Cerebral cortex