Biology · Neural Control and Coordination · NEET
The two cerebral hemispheres are connected by a tract of nerve fibres called the corpus callosum. NCERT states this in exact words, so remember the pair: hemispheres + corpus callosum. It is the most tested one-line fact from this topic.
White matter. The corpus callosum is made of myelinated nerve fibres (axons), and myelinated tracts look white, so it is white matter. Grey matter is the outer cerebral cortex where neuron cell bodies sit. Do not mix the two.
A deep cleft (longitudinal fissure) divides the cerebrum lengthwise into two halves, the left and right cerebral hemispheres. The cleft only separates them on the outside; the corpus callosum joins them on the inside.
The cerebrum is part of the FOREBRAIN, not the brainstem. The forebrain has cerebrum, thalamus and hypothalamus. The brainstem is made of midbrain, pons and medulla oblongata. NEET often swaps these to trap you.
It is a tract of nerve fibres, not a single nerve. A tract is a bundle of axons that runs inside the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). Nerves run outside, in the peripheral nervous system.
Given below are two statements: Statement I: The cerebral hemispheres are connected by a nerve tract known as corpus callosum. Statement II: The brain stem consists of the medulla oblongata, pons and cerebrum. In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
The cerebrum is the largest part of the human brain and a part of the forebrain. It is divided into left and right cerebral hemispheres and handles thinking, memory, sensations and voluntary movement.
The corpus callosum is a tract of nerve fibres that connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres, allowing the two halves of the brain to share information with each other.
The outer layer covering each cerebral hemisphere is the cerebral cortex. It is thrown into folds and appears greyish, so it is called grey matter because neuron cell bodies are concentrated there.
The forebrain. The corpus callosum lies within the cerebrum, and the cerebrum is part of the forebrain along with the thalamus and hypothalamus.
It is a high-yield one-liner factory. NEET repeatedly tests that hemispheres join via corpus callosum and that cerebrum is forebrain, not brainstem, as seen in the 2024 assertion-reason question.
