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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.

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.

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,...

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...

Visual System

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...

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The eye is a spherical, hollow structure composed of three tissue layers. The outer layer — the fibrous tunic, comprises the sclera — a white structure — and the cornea, which is transparent. The sclera encompasses some of the ocular surface, most of which is not visible. However, the 'white of the eye' is distinctively visible in humans compared to other species. The cornea, a clear covering at the front of the eye, enables light penetration. The eye's middle layer, the vascular tunic,...

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Related Experiment Video

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A Large Lateral Craniotomy Procedure for Mesoscale Wide-field Optical Imaging of Brain Activity

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Basal forebrain activation controls contrast sensitivity in primary visual cortex.

Anwesha Bhattacharyya¹, Julia Veit, Robert Kretz

¹Department of Medicine, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 5, Fribourg 1700, Switzerland.

BMC Neuroscience

|May 18, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Basal forebrain (BF) deep brain stimulation (DBS) enhances visual cortex (V1) activity and significantly improves contrast sensitivity. BF GABAergic projections play a key role in modulating V1 responses.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Visual Neuroscience

Background:

The basal forebrain (BF) modulates cortical activity via cholinergic projections.
The functional role of BF GABAergic projections to the cortex and thalamus is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of BF activation on V1 neural activity using deep brain stimulation (DBS).

Main Methods:

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) applied to the basal forebrain (BF).
Analysis of V1 single-unit activity, local field potentials (LFPs), orientation selectivity, and contrast sensitivity.

Main Results:

BF stimulation increased V1 single and multi-unit activity.
Moderate decreases in orientation selectivity and significant increases in contrast sensitivity were observed.
A broad gamma-band (30-90 Hz) increase in V1 LFPs predicted enhanced firing rates and contrast sensitivity.

Conclusions:

BF activation strongly influences V1 contrast sensitivity.
BF GABAergic projections are crucial for the observed effects of BF DBS on cortical activity, alongside cholinergic modulation.