cerebrum The largest part of the vertebrate brain. It consists of two cerebral hemispheres, which develop from the embryonic forebrain. The hemispheres have an outer convoluted layer of grey matter – the cerebral cortex – which contains an estimated ten billion nerve cells. Underneath this is white matter. The two halves of the cerebrum are linked by the corpus callosum. The function of the cerebrum is to integrate complex sensory and neural functions. The cerebrum is thought to play a critical role in the process of learning, which involves both short-term and long-term memory.

ce·re·brum / səˈrēbrəm; ˈserə-/ • n. (pl. -bra / -brə/ ) Anat. the principal and most anterior part of the brain in vertebrates, located in the front area of the skull and consisting of two hemispheres, left and right, separated by a fissure.

cerebrum Largest and most highly developed part of the brain, consisting of the cerebral hemispheres separated by a central fissure. It is covered by the cerebral cortex. It coordinates all higher functions and voluntary activity. The cerebrum is divided into hemispheres and four lobes, including paired frontal lobes that are the areas for learning and personality.

cerebrum A pair of hemispheres originating from the anterior end of the fore brain: in primitive vertebrates it is concerned mainly with the olfactory sense, but in mammals it forms the largest part of the brain, with an increasingly convoluted cortex (grey matter), and is concerned with the analysis of sensory information and the instigation of responses. See also TELENCEPHALON.

cerebrum (telencephalon) (se-ri-brŭm) n. the largest and most highly developed part of the brain, composed of the two cerebral hemispheres, separated from each other by the longitudinal fissure in the midline and connected at the base by the corpus callosum. The cerebrum is responsible for the initiation and coordination of all voluntary activity in the body and for governing the functioning of lower parts of the nervous system.
—cerebral adj.