Cortex

Cortex (Latin for BARK) in general means the outer layer (contrast with Medulla). It has different specific meanings, depending on the context:

In Neuroanatomy:
- the Cerebral cortex (often simply called "cortex") is the thin wrinkled outermost layer of the Brain. It is rich in neurons and is the site of most sophisticated neural processing.
- the cerebellar cortex is the outermost layer of the Cerebellum
In Botany, the cortex is the outer portion of the stem or Root of a plant.
In Anatomy and Zoology, the cortex is the outermost (or "superficial") layer of an organ.
In Lithic analysis in Archaeology, the cortex is the outer layer of rock formed on the exterior of raw materials by chemical and mechanical weathering processes.
In the television series Firefly, the 'cortex' is the interplanetary equivalent of the Internet.