Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that are not primarily sensory or motor. They integrate information from multiple sources and support the higher mental functions that make human cognition distinctive.

The prefrontal association cortex is involved in planning, decision making, working memory, and social behavior. Damage can leave basic intelligence intact while devastating judgment and impulse control. Parietal association areas contribute to spatial awareness and the integration of sensory information; temporal association areas are critical for object recognition and semantic memory. Language depends on a network of association regions in the left hemisphere, classically including Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas and the fiber tracts that connect them.

These areas expanded disproportionately in human evolution. They are the last to myelinate in development and remain plastic throughout life. Their activity is less tied to the immediate stimulus and more to internal goals, memories, and abstract relations.

When a person reflects, plans, or understands a metaphor, the association areas are at work.