Difference Between Gyrus and Sulcus

Gyrus vs Sulcus

You might say something like this, now where did I hear those words from? Well, probably not that often enough. Truthfully speaking, terms like gyrus and sulcus, are not that widely used in the open. In fact, these words are used in the medical field, for lectures regarding the brain anatomy and its parts. So basically only few people can actually hear these terms being used, less know what they refer to. But with this article, then you would not be in the dark anymore whenever you encounter these terms being used.

But before that, we need to know about the brain’s anatomy and presentation. This is just to give a little background on the subject matter. The brain is considered as the command center of our body. It handles all of our movements, senses, emotions, and bodily processes. It is not even known yet the full extent of the limitations of the brain, and at most, we are only using 10% of our brain matter. That leaves 90% yet to be discovered and explored.

It is true though that there are still lot of mysteries about our brain that needs to be unraveled, but what is already a common fact is that almost all the parts of our brain have already been extensively studied and named. Simply speaking, almost every part of the brain is now widely researched, every lobe identified for its general function, and even its shape explained.

Now I ask you this, have you ever seen a brain close hand, or even, just a well-illustrated picture of it? For those who are in line with the medical profession, then I am quite confident that they already are oriented to the brain and its anatomy. Furthermore, even those who are not in the medical profession already have a vague idea of how the brain looks like. The very least that you can discern about its feature is that it has a lot of curves and ridges, with prominent depressions. And, these are what you call as gyrus and sulcus.

But there is a difference between the two. Gyrus, or its plural term gyri, is the term used for the prominent raise or outward fold in the brain. Picture the raised ridges in your mind. These raised ridges are what you call as gyri.

On the other hand, sulcus, or sulci in plural, is the depression or the inward fold seen in the brain. They are found all throughout the brain, and along with the gyrus, give the brain it’s spongy and distinct shape.

You can read more about it since this article only provides basic details about the topic.

Summary:

1. The brain is the command center that controls almost all processes that is happening to our body.

2. The gyrus is the outward fold or raised ridge seen in the surface of the brain.

3. The sulcus is the inward fold or depression found all throughout the surface of the brain.

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