What is another common name for the cerebral cortex?

• A. Bark
• B. Dermis
• C. Midbrain
• D. Gyrus

Answer: (A)

Think about what the cerebral cortex is and how its name originated. The cortex is the outer layer of the cerebrum, the gray matter that covers the brain’s surface. The word cortex comes from Latin for bark or rind, so a common, traditional way to refer to this outer covering is bark. The other terms point to something different: the midbrain is a distinct brain region in the brainstem; the dermis is a layer of skin; a gyrus is a ridge or fold on the cortical surface, not the cortex as a whole. So bark best fits as the name for the cerebral cortex.