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Somatosensation

Somatosensation

The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

The somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes is crucial for interpreting sensory data such as touch, temperature, and proprioception. The somatosensory cortex, situated in the parietal lobes, plays a vital role in interpreting sensory information like touch, temperature, and proprioception—awareness of body position. This specialized brain region features an organized structure wherein neurons at the top primarily process sensations originating from the lower body. In contrast, those at the...

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the stimulus...

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex.

Olfaction

Olfaction

The sense of smell is achieved through the activities of the olfactory system. It starts when an airborne odorant enters the nasal cavity and reaches olfactory epithelium (OE). The OE is protected by a thin layer of mucus, which also serves the purpose of dissolving more complex compounds into simpler chemical odorants. The size of the OE and the density of sensory neurons varies among species; in humans, the OE is only about 9-10 cm2.
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association Areas of the Cortex

Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Published on: January 22, 2018

Oral structure representation in human somatosensory cortex.

Yohei Tamura¹, Yoshiyuki Shibukawa, Masuro Shintani

¹Oral Health Science Center, Laboratory of Brain Research, Tokyo Dental College, Chiba 261-8502, Japan.

|August 2, 2008

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The primary somatosensory cortex (S1) shows bilateral neuronal projections for intraoral structures, with a predominant contralateral pathway. This mapping expands the known sensory homunculus representation in the brain.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Somatosensory System
Brain Mapping

Background:

The topographical organization of intraoral structures within the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) remains incompletely understood.
Bilateral neuronal projections to S1 from the oral region require further elucidation.

Purpose of the Study:

To clarify the brain areas representing intraoral structures in the S1 cortex.
To investigate the bilateral neuronal projection patterns from the oral region to S1.

Main Methods:

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to record somatosensory-evoked magnetic fields (SEFs).
A piezo-driven tactile stimulation device was employed for precise stimulation of oral mucosa sites.
Equivalent current dipoles (ECDs) were analyzed to determine the location and strength of cortical responses.

Main Results:

SEFs from oral stimulation showed bilateral representation in S1 with a peak latency of 15 ms (1M).
Index finger stimulation yielded contralateral SEFs with a 30 ms latency.
Oral representation areas were located inferiorly to the index finger representation, spanning 30% of S1, with weaker ipsilateral source strength.

Conclusions:

Sensory information from the intraoral region projects bilaterally to area 3b in S1 via the trigeminothalamic tract, with a dominant contralateral pathway.
The study clarifies the topographical organization of intraoral structures within the S1 cortex.
These findings contribute to the classical sensory homunculus model by adding detailed intraoral representations.