What is the name of the grooves that separate the gyri in the cortex?

The grooves that separate the gyri in the cerebral cortex are known as sulci. They play a crucial role in increasing the surface area of the brain, allowing for a greater number of neurons to be packed into the limited volume of the skull. This structural feature is essential for various cognitive functions, as the increased surface area facilitates more complex neural connections.

Gyri are the raised folds of the cortex, while the diencephalon is a brain structure that includes important regions like the thalamus and hypothalamus, not specifically related to the grooves or folds of the cortex. The cingulate cortex is a specific region of the brain involved in emotion formation and processing, learning, and memory, but it is not the term for the grooves themselves. Thus, sulcus is the precise term used to describe the grooves that delineate the gyri in the brain's cortex.