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Related Concept Videos

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:23

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...
Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

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.
Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System01:11

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...
Parallel Processing01:20

Parallel Processing

The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...
Somatosensation01:33

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.
What is a Sensory System?01:31

What is a Sensory System?

Sensory systems detect stimuli—such as light and sound waves—and transduce them into neural signals that can be interpreted by the nervous system. In addition to external stimuli detected by the senses, some sensory systems detect internal stimuli—such as the proprioceptors in muscles and tendons that send feedback about limb position.

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Cortical up and activated states: implications for sensory information processing.

Manuel A Castro-Alamancos1

  • 1Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19129, USA. mcastro@drexelmed.edu

The Neuroscientist : a Review Journal Bringing Neurobiology, Neurology and Psychiatry
|March 27, 2009
PubMed
Summary

Neocortical up states are brief periods of high brain activity during rest. These states resemble those during cognition and impact neuronal excitability and network function.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Computational Neuroscience

Background:

  • The neocortex exhibits spontaneous slow oscillations during quiescent periods.
  • These oscillations comprise distinct up and down states.
  • Up states are characterized by persistent neuronal activity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the characteristics of neocortical up states.
  • To explore the putative functional roles of up states.
  • To compare up states with activated cortical states during arousal and cognition.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies on neocortical slow oscillations.
  • Analysis of electrophysiological data characterizing up states.
  • Comparison of up state properties with cortical states during cognitive tasks.

Main Results:

  • Up states represent transient epochs of increased neuronal firing and network synchronization.
  • Up states share functional similarities with cortical activation during cognitive processing.
  • Up states modulate the excitability of cortical neurons and synaptic plasticity.

Conclusions:

  • Neocortical up states are crucial for information processing and synaptic plasticity during rest.
  • Understanding up states provides insights into the neural mechanisms of arousal and cognition.
  • Further research is needed to fully elucidate the functional significance of up states.