Central Sulcus

The central sulcus is a fissure in the cerebral cortex of each hemisphere. It is also called the fissure of Rolando or the Rolandic fissure, after the anatomist Luigi Rolando. The central sulcus separates the parietal lobe from the frontal lobe and the primary motor cortex from the primary somatosensory cortex.

The motor cortex is on one side of the central sulcus; the sensory cortex is on the other (in the parietal lobe). The central sulcus has a 'map' of the human body on each side that corresponds to the other side. When the sensory part is stimulated, its associated motor part is right across the sulcus.