Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Lateralization

Lateralization

Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.

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,...

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.

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...

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.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Association analysis of USF1 gene polymorphisms and total unstable carotid plaque area in atherosclerotic stroke patients.

Journal of thrombosis and thrombolysis·2012

Same author

Functional connectivity changes in patients with absence epilepsy studied using resting-state functional MRI.

Journal of clinical neuroscience : official journal of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia·2012

Same author

Quantitative analysis of mitral valve morphology in mitral valve prolapse with real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography: importance of annular saddle shape in the pathogenesis of mitral regurgitation.

Circulation·2012

Same author

Interval cancers in nasopharyngeal carcinoma screening: comparing two screening intervals after a negative initial screening result.

Journal of medical screening·2012

Same author

Two Epstein-Barr virus-related serologic antibody tests in nasopharyngeal carcinoma screening: results from the initial phase of a cluster randomized controlled trial in Southern China.

American journal of epidemiology·2012

Same author

MALT1 small molecule inhibitors specifically suppress ABC-DLBCL in vitro and in vivo.

Cancer cell·2012

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Published on: May 12, 2019

Is the semantic category effect in the lateral temporal cortex due to motion property differences?

Nan Lin¹, Xueming Lu, Fang Fang

¹State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. ybi@bnu.edu.cn

|January 25, 2011

Summary

The posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) processes biological motion, while the posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) shows tool preference, but not specifically for mechanical motion verbs, suggesting other properties drive pMTG activation.

More Related Videos

Detecting Pre-Stimulus Source-Level Effects on Object Perception with Magnetoencephalography

Detecting Pre-Stimulus Source-Level Effects on Object Perception with Magnetoencephalography

Published on: July 26, 2019

Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis

Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis

Published on: November 9, 2011

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns

Published on: May 12, 2019

Detecting Pre-Stimulus Source-Level Effects on Object Perception with Magnetoencephalography

Detecting Pre-Stimulus Source-Level Effects on Object Perception with Magnetoencephalography

Published on: July 26, 2019

Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis

Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis

Published on: November 9, 2011

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Linguistics

Background:

The posterior lateral temporal cortex (PLTC) is implicated in conceptual knowledge.
Specific regions, pSTS and pMTG, are hypothesized to process different motion types: biological vs. mechanical.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of pSTS and pMTG in processing biological and mechanical motion.
To test if these motion-type specific activations extend to verbs and nouns.

Main Methods:

fMRI study comparing brain activation patterns.
Stimuli included verbs of biological motion (walk), mechanical motion (rotate), and low-motion events (ferment).
Nouns from categories (animals, tools, buildings) were also analyzed.

Main Results:

Replicated noun findings: pSTS showed higher activation for animals, pMTG for tools.
pSTS responded to biological-motion verbs.
pMTG did not show sensitivity to mechanical-motion verbs.

Conclusions:

The pSTS appears to process biological motion concepts, including verbs.
pMTG's preference for tools may stem from visual-motor representations, not solely mechanical motion.