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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...
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.
Association Areas of the Cortex01:21

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,...
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.
Lobes of the Cerebrum01:22

Lobes of the Cerebrum

The cerebral cortex, a critical structure of the brain, is intricately divided into two hemispheres, each consisting of four distinct lobes: occipital, temporal, frontal, and parietal. These lobes function cooperatively to regulate various cognitive and sensory functions, forming the basis of our complex neural capabilities.
Frontal lobe
The frontal lobes, located behind the forehead, are the command center of our brain, controlling personality, intelligence, and voluntary muscle movements.
Major Somatic Sensory Pathways01:28

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the posterior columns...

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Design and Use of an Apparatus for Presenting Graspable Objects in 3D Workspace
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Published on: August 8, 2019

Human posterior parietal cortex flexibly determines reference frames for reaching based on sensory context.

Pierre-Michel Bernier1, Scott T Grafton

  • 1Department of Psychology, Brain Imaging Center, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.

Neuron
|November 25, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The brain flexibly uses different reference frames for planning movements based on sensory information. Visual targets activate gaze-centered representations, while unseen proprioceptive cues shift to body-centered representations in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC).

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Sensorimotor Control

Background:

  • Current sensorimotor models highlight gaze-centered representations in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) for reach planning.
  • The role of sensory modality in determining reference frames for motor goals remains debated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether the sensory modality of a target influences the reference frame used for motor goals in the PPC and premotor cortex.
  • To test the flexibility of reference frame representations within individual brain areas.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with repetition suppression.
  • Comparing brain activity for visually versus proprioceptively defined targets.
  • Analyzing representations in the PPC and premotor cortex (PMd).

Main Results:

  • Anterior precuneus selectively encoded motor goals in gaze-centered coordinates for visual targets.
  • Parieto-occipital junction, Brodmann Area 5 (BA 5), and PMd showed mixed gaze- and body-centered representations for visual targets.
  • These areas switched to predominantly body-centered representations when targets were defined by unseen proprioceptive cues.

Conclusions:

  • Sensory context dictates the reference frame used for action planning in the PPC and premotor cortex.
  • Brain areas exhibit flexibility by utilizing multiple reference frames.
  • This provides neuroanatomical evidence for flexible sensorimotor transformations based on sensory input.