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Related Concept Videos

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.
Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways01:29

Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways

Somatic sensory or somatosensory pathways refer to the neural pathways that carry information related to touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception from the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints to the brain. These pathways involve several stages of processing and integration of sensory information.
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...
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...
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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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 3, 2026

In Vivo Visualization of Spontaneous Activity in Neonatal Mouse Sensory Cortex at a Single-Neuron Resolution
06:18

In Vivo Visualization of Spontaneous Activity in Neonatal Mouse Sensory Cortex at a Single-Neuron Resolution

Published on: November 21, 2023

STDP in the Developing Sensory Neocortex.

Rylan S Larsen1, Deepti Rao, Paul B Manis

  • 1Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience
|March 23, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) refines neuronal tuning to sensory inputs during development. Understanding these changes in the brain is crucial for learning how receptive fields and memories form.

Keywords:
auditory cortexendocannabinoidneuromodulationpresynaptic NMDA receptorsomatosensory cortexspike timing-dependent plasticityvisual cortex

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Neuroscience
  • Synaptic Plasticity

Background:

  • Spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) optimizes neuronal tuning for sensory inputs, crucial for receptive field formation and memory.
  • Developmental adjustments in STDP are essential for tuning neural selectivity to environmental stimuli, but remain poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the properties of STDP and its developmental changes in primary sensory cortical layers.
  • To explore how postnatal changes in synaptic proteins and neuromodulators influence STDP.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of STDP properties and developmental changes.
  • Discussion of synaptic and neuromodulatory factors influencing STDP induction and expression.

Main Results:

  • STDP properties must adapt during development for optimal neuronal tuning.
  • Postnatal changes in synaptic proteins and neuromodulators impact STDP.

Conclusions:

  • STDP is dynamically shaped by developmental processes.
  • STDP, in turn, modifies synapses to refine neuronal responses to sensory information.