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Related Concept Videos

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.
Motor Unit Stimulation01:20

Motor Unit Stimulation

When the neuron of a motor unit fires an action potential, it triggers a series of events, leading to a twitch contraction in the muscle fibers. The process of excitation-contraction coupling is crucial in relaying the action potential to the muscle fibers.
The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...
Motor Units01:13

Motor Units

The motor unit is a fundamental component of the neuromuscular system and plays a crucial role in coordinating muscle contractions. It consists of a somatic motor neuron, which connects and controls multiple skeletal muscle fibers, forming a single functional segment. The axon of the motor neuron branches out and establishes synaptic connections known as neuromuscular junctions with individual muscle fibers within the motor unit.
Motor units come in different sizes, with smaller units...
Motor Units00:46

Motor Units

A motor unit consists of two main components: a single efferent motor neuron (i.e., a neuron that carries impulses away from the central nervous system) and all of the muscle fibers it innervates. The motor neuron may innervate multiple muscle fibers, which are single cells, but only one motor neuron innervates a single muscle fiber.
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...
Mechanism of Ciliary Motion01:05

Mechanism of Ciliary Motion

The ciliary structures were first seen in 1647 by Antonie Leeuwenhoek while observing the protozoans. In lower organisms, these appendages are responsible for cell movement, while in higher organisms, these appendages help in the movement of the extracellular fluids within the body cavities.
The cilia are made up of microtubules in a 9+2 arrangement, with nine microtubule doublet ring bundles, surrounding a pair of central singlet microtubule bundles. The doublet microtubule bundles are...

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Whole-Brain 3D Activation and Functional Connectivity Mapping in Mice using Transcranial Functional Ultrasound Imaging
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Published on: February 24, 2021

Vibrissae motor cortex unit activity during whisking.

Wendy A Friedman1, H Philip Zeigler, Asaf Keller

  • 1Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, USA.

Journal of Neurophysiology
|October 14, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study found that rat whisker movements are controlled by the motor cortex (vMCx), which regulates movement amplitude, not frequency, during exploration. This suggests cortical control over vibrissae kinematics.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Behavioral Neuroscience
  • Motor Control

Background:

  • Rats use rhythmic vibrissae (whisker) movements for exploration, a behavior typically generated by subcortical circuits.
  • The significant representation of vibrissae in the motor cortex (vMCx) suggests a potential cortical role in controlling these movements.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between neuronal activity in the rat's vibrissae motor cortex (vMCx) and the kinematics of vibrissae movements.
  • To determine whether cortical activity influences the frequency or amplitude of whisking behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Recorded multiunit activity (MUA) and single units in the vMCx of awake, head-restrained rats.
  • Measured vibrissae position during two tasks: non-contact whisking and object contact whisking.
  • Analyzed the coherence between MUA and vibrissae movement frequency and the correlation between spike rate and movement parameters.

Main Results:

  • Significant coherence was observed between MUA frequency and vibrissae movement frequency during free-air whisking.
  • No significant coherence was found when rats used vibrissae to contact an object.
  • vMCx spike rate was most consistently correlated with the amplitude of vibrissae movements, not frequency.

Conclusions:

  • Cortical control in the vMCx appears to primarily regulate the amplitude of vibrissae movements.
  • The findings suggest a nuanced role for the motor cortex in modulating exploratory whisking kinematics based on behavioral context.