Why is the surface of the cerebral cortex very large?

The cerebral cortex performs extremely important functions – it is responsible for speech, thinking, memory, vision, smell. But, at the same time, it is easily damaged. Therefore, from an evolutionary point of view, it is important that the brain is protected by the bony skull from external damage. Under such conditions, the crust should occupy the largest possible area with the smallest volume. This is achieved using a large number of deep convolutions and grooves. If dementia (dementia) develops, then the number of convolutions decreases, the brain becomes smaller.