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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...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 20, 2026

Study Motor Skill Learning by Single-pellet Reaching Tasks in Mice

Study Motor Skill Learning by Single-pellet Reaching Tasks in Mice

Published on: March 4, 2014

Primary motor cortex involvement in initial learning during visuomotor adaptation.

Stephan Riek¹, Mark R Hinder, Richard G Carson

¹The University of Queensland, School of Human Movement Studies, Brisbane, QLD, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. sriek@hms.uq.edu.au

Neuropsychologia

|July 12, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The primary motor cortex (M1) is crucial for the initial stages of sensorimotor adaptation. Inhibiting M1 impacts learning and re-adaptation to visuomotor tasks, highlighting its role in early learning phases.

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

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Published on: February 23, 2020

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Motor Control
Cognitive Science

Background:

Human motor behavior adapts based on movement errors.
The primary motor cortex (M1) role in adaptation varies with task and learning stage.
Sensorimotor adaptation involves integrating sensory feedback with motor commands.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the primary motor cortex's (M1) involvement in the initial phase of sensorimotor adaptation.
To test if M1 is essential for learning new motor responses to visual perturbations.
To examine the effect of inhibiting M1 on adaptation and re-adaptation processes.

Main Methods:

Used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to deliver inhibitory continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) to M1.
Participants performed a motor task involving elbow/forearm torque adjustments to visual feedback rotations.
Compared performance between a stimulated (cTBS) and a conventional (no stimulation) condition across multiple blocks of visual rotation.

Main Results:

Overt performance errors were similar between conditions upon initial exposure to new task variants.
Significant differences emerged in response preparation latency and corticospinal excitability during de-adaptation and re-adaptation.
Re-adaptation to a previously encountered visual rotation was slower 24 hours later in the cTBS group.

Conclusions:

Primary motor cortex (M1) plays a key role in the neural network mediating adaptation to visuomotor perturbations.
M1 is functionally engaged during the early phases of sensorimotor learning.
Inhibiting M1 affects the efficiency of adaptation and long-term retention of motor learning.