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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...

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,...

Vision

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.

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Related Experiment Video

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Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

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Neural activity in superior parietal cortex during rule-based visual-motor transformations.

Kara M Hawkins¹, Patricia Sayegh, Xiaogang Yan

¹York University, Toronto, Canada.

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

|October 25, 2012

Summary

The superior parietal lobule processes complex sensorimotor rules for reaching. This brain region integrates incongruent sensory information, enabling accurate motor output for nonstandard tasks.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Motor Control

Background:

Cognition enables rule-based sensorimotor strategies, but their neural basis is unclear.
Understanding neural mechanisms of sensorimotor control is crucial for cognitive neuroscience.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate neural activity in the superior parietal lobule during standard and nonstandard reaching tasks.
To compare neural processing during direct interaction versus spatially incongruent reaching tasks.

Main Methods:

Recorded single-unit activity, gaze, and reach trajectories in Macaca mulattas.
Utilized standard reaching, plane-dissociated reaching, and 180° visual feedback reversal tasks.
Analyzed population-level temporal discharge patterns and cell-specific directional tuning.

Main Results:

Observed population activity reflecting reach planning and online monitoring across all tasks.
Found attenuated cell discharge rates in deep superior parietal lobule sites during plane-dissociated reaching.
Noted cells tuned to reach direction in either standard or nonstandard tasks, rarely both; some cells shifted preferred direction by 180° in feedback reversal.

Conclusions:

The superior parietal lobule is vital for processing task-specific rules and nonstandard sensory information.
This region facilitates the transformation of incongruent sensory inputs into motor commands via connections with precentral motor areas.
Accurate sensorimotor integration relies on the superior parietal lobule's role in incorporating rule-based information into motor acts.