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

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...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Brain Aging in Specific Phobia: An ENIGMA-Anxiety Mega-Analysis.

Human brain mapping·2026

Same author

Think positive, perform better: The detrimental effect of technical motor imagery before action.

Human movement science·2026

Same author

CALM-VLM: CALIBRATION AND SELECTIVE PREDICTION IN VISION-LANGUAGE MODELS FOR RELIABLE BRAIN MRI CLASSIFICATION.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

The effects of handedness and age on hand role selection in bimanual tasks.

Experimental brain research·2026

Same author

Enhancing spontaneous recovery after stroke: a randomized controlled trial.

Brain communications·2026

Same author

Temporal External Validation of the TWIST Prediction Tool for Time to Independent Walking after Stroke.

Neurorehabilitation and neural repair·2026

Same journal

Analysis of strength degradation of coal and rock masses and stability of mined areas under long term immersion environment.

PloS one·2026

Same journal

Biogenic Silver-Selenium nanocomposite with anticancer activity and potent efficacy against vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

PloS one·2026

Same journal

Preparation and physicochemical characterization of a biodegradable chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogel synthesized in NaOH/urea medium.

PloS one·2026

Same journal

Action-guilt, survivor-guilt, and depression in combat-related PTSD.

PloS one·2026

Same journal

Explainable machine learning for predicting activities of daily living at discharge in stroke patients: A retrospective study using SHAP interpretability.

PloS one·2026

Same journal

Deep learning based two-way feature depiction model for brain tumor detection.

PloS one·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 21, 2026

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention

Published on: September 11, 2017

Task-dependent interaction between parietal and contralateral primary motor cortex during explicit versus implicit

Florent Lebon¹, Martin Lotze, Cathy M Stinear

¹Neurology Research Group, Department of Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

|June 14, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Investigating brain activity during mental rotation (MR) and motor imagery (MI), this study found the right inferior parietal lobe (rIPL) uses inhibition to prevent unwanted movements during imagery tasks.

More Related Videos

Online Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Protocol for Measuring Cortical Physiology Associated with Response Inhibition

Online Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Protocol for Measuring Cortical Physiology Associated with Response Inhibition

Published on: February 8, 2018

Measuring and Manipulating Functionally Specific Neural Pathways in the Human Motor System with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Measuring and Manipulating Functionally Specific Neural Pathways in the Human Motor System with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Published on: February 23, 2020

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 21, 2026

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention

Published on: September 11, 2017

Online Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Protocol for Measuring Cortical Physiology Associated with Response Inhibition

Online Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Protocol for Measuring Cortical Physiology Associated with Response Inhibition

Published on: February 8, 2018

Measuring and Manipulating Functionally Specific Neural Pathways in the Human Motor System with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Measuring and Manipulating Functionally Specific Neural Pathways in the Human Motor System with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Published on: February 23, 2020

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Motor Control

Background:

Mental rotation (MR) and motor imagery (MI) recruit motor and parietal cortices.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can probe interhemispheric interactions between these brain regions.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the interaction between the right inferior parietal lobe (rIPL) and left primary motor cortex (M1) during MR and MI tasks.
To determine the role of rIPL in modulating motor cortex excitability during imagery.

Main Methods:

Image-guided dual-coil TMS was applied to 11 healthy participants.
Participants performed MR or MI tasks (right index-thumb pinching) while motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the right first dorsal interosseous.
TMS targeted rIPL and left M1 with varying timing (6 ms and 12 ms) to assess corticomotor excitability.

Main Results:

At rest, rIPL stimulation 6 ms before M1 stimulation facilitated MEPs, but this effect was abolished during MR.
rIPL stimulation 12 ms before M1 stimulation suppressed corticomotor excitability during MI, with no effect at rest.
These findings suggest a task-dependent modulation of M1 excitability by rIPL.

Conclusions:

The right inferior parietal lobe (rIPL) is involved in an inhibitory network crucial for preventing unintended movements during motor imagery.
rIPL plays a distinct role in modulating motor cortex excitability, particularly during imagery tasks.
These findings advance our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying motor control and cognitive processes involving internal movement representation.