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Recent analyses of association fibre networks in the primate cerebral cortex have revealed a small number of densely intra–connected and hierarchically organized structural systems. Corresponding analyses of data on functional connectivity are required to establish the significance of these structural systems. W e therefore built up a relational database by systematically collating published data on the spread of activity after strychnine–induced disinhibition in the macaque cerebral cortex in vivo . After mapping these data to two different parcellation schemes, we used three independent methods of analysis which demonstrate that the cortical network of functional interactions is not homogeneous, but shows a clear segregation into functional assemblies of mutually interacting areas. The assemblies suggest a principal division of the cortex into visual, somatomotor and orbito–temporo–insular systems, while motor …