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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...

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

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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.

Association Areas of the Cortex

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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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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.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Published on: August 1, 2018

Spatial coding and invariance in object-selective cortex.

Thomas Carlson¹, Hinze Hogendoorn, Hubert Fonteijn

¹Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. tcarlson@psyc.umd.edu

Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior

|October 17, 2009

Summary

Researchers found that specific brain regions, including the lateral occipital cortex area (LO), fusiform face area (FFA), and parahippocampal place area (PPA), encode object spatial positions. This coding allows for object recognition across different visual field locations.

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Targeted Labeling of Neurons in a Specific Functional Micro-domain of the Neocortex by Combining Intrinsic Signal and Two-photon Imaging

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Visual Perception

Background:

Understanding how the brain processes object location is crucial for visual cognition.
Object selective cortex plays a key role in recognizing objects, but its spatial coding capabilities are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the coding of spatial position within object selective cortex.
To determine if specific areas like LO, FFA, and PPA represent object locations.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to measure brain activity.
Pattern classification analysis was used to decode spatial information from fMRI data.

Main Results:

Three areas within object selective cortex—LO, FFA, and PPA—demonstrated robust coding of object spatial positions.
Anisotropic representations of visual space, including horizontal/vertical asymmetry, were observed in these areas.
Object category information could be extracted across different visual field locations, suggesting translation invariance.

Conclusions:

The lateral occipital cortex area (LO), fusiform face area (FFA), and parahippocampal place area (PPA) are involved in coding object spatial positions.
These findings suggest a neural mechanism for achieving translation invariance in object recognition.
The study highlights the complex spatial representations within object selective cortex.