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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.

Vision

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.

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...

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,...

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...

Visual System

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Novel Object Recognition Test for the Investigation of Learning and Memory in Mice

Novel Object Recognition Test for the Investigation of Learning and Memory in Mice

Published on: August 30, 2017

Integrating visual and tactile information in the perirhinal cortex.

J S Holdstock¹, J Hocking, P Notley

¹School of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BS, UK. juliet@julietholdstock.com

Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)

|April 24, 2009

Summary

The human perirhinal cortex integrates visual and tactile information for object recognition. This brain region shows heightened activity during congruent cross-modal matching tasks, confirming its role in sensory integration.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Sensory Integration

Background:

The perirhinal cortex is hypothesized to integrate multimodal sensory information for abstract object representations.
Previous studies in nonhuman primates show perirhinal cortex damage impairs cross-modal integration.
Human imaging studies have yielded conflicting results regarding perirhinal cortex activation during visual-tactile object matching.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of the human perirhinal cortex in cross-modal object integration.
To determine if perirhinal cortex activation differs based on the congruence of visual and tactile object attributes.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to scan neurologically intact individuals.
Participants performed visual-tactile object matching tasks with congruent and incongruent stimuli.
Comparisons were made between cross-modal (visual-tactile) and unimodal (visual-visual, tactile-tactile) matching conditions.

Main Results:

The perirhinal cortex exhibited significantly higher bilateral activation during cross-modal matching compared to unimodal matching.
This increased activation was observed exclusively when the visual and tactile information presented was congruent.
No significant difference in perirhinal activation was found for incongruent cross-modal matching.

Conclusions:

The findings demonstrate that the human perirhinal cortex is critically involved in cross-modal, specifically visual-tactile, integration.
The results support a functional homology between the perirhinal cortices of humans and nonhuman primates.
The study highlights the importance of stimulus congruence in revealing the perirhinal cortex's role in binding sensory information.