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

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...

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.

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,...

Somatosensation

Somatosensation

The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.

Neural Circuits

Neural Circuits

Neural circuits and neuronal pools are two of the main structures found in the nervous system. Neural circuits are networks of neurons that work together to carry out a specific task or process. They consist of interconnected neurons and glial cells, which provide structural and metabolic support.
Neuronal pools are collections of nerve cells with similar functions and interact through chemical and electrical signals. These pools include both interneurons (the central neural circuit nodes that...

Functional Divisions of the Nervous System

Functional Divisions of the Nervous System

The nervous system, responsible for sensing, integrating, and responding to various stimuli, is divided into the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The PNS has two functional divisions: the sensory or afferent division and the motor or efferent division.
The sensory division transmits information from sensory receptors in the body to the CNS. It provides the CNS with knowledge about somatic senses (such as tactile, thermal, pain, and proprioceptive sensations)...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Fitting predictive coding to the neurophysiological data.

Brain research·2019

Same author

A Hierarchical Predictive Coding Model of Object Recognition in Natural Images.

Cognitive computation·2017

Same author

Predictive coding as a model of cognition.

Cognitive processing·2016

Same author

A review of predictive coding algorithms.

Brain and cognition·2016

Same author

Classification using sparse representations: a biologically plausible approach.

Biological cybernetics·2013

Same author

Predictive coding accounts for V1 response properties recorded using reverse correlation.

Biological cybernetics·2012

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 10, 2026

Multiscale Investigations of Cortical Processing by Integrating Laminar Polytrodes and Optogenetics with Micro Electrocorticography in Rodents

Multiscale Investigations of Cortical Processing by Integrating Laminar Polytrodes and Optogenetics with Micro Electrocorticography in Rodents

Published on: May 23, 2025

A single functional model of drivers and modulators in cortex.

M W Spratling¹

¹Department of Informatics, King's College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK, michael.spratling@kcl.ac.uk.

Journal of Computational Neuroscience

|July 3, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study proposes a unified computational model for synaptic connections in the cortex. It suggests both "drivers" and "modulators" arise from perceptual inference, explaining diverse neural phenomena.

More Related Videos

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Published on: January 22, 2018

Large-scale Three-dimensional Imaging of Cellular Organization in the Mouse Neocortex

Large-scale Three-dimensional Imaging of Cellular Organization in the Mouse Neocortex

Published on: September 5, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 10, 2026

Multiscale Investigations of Cortical Processing by Integrating Laminar Polytrodes and Optogenetics with Micro Electrocorticography in Rodents

Multiscale Investigations of Cortical Processing by Integrating Laminar Polytrodes and Optogenetics with Micro Electrocorticography in Rodents

Published on: May 23, 2025

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Published on: January 22, 2018

Large-scale Three-dimensional Imaging of Cellular Organization in the Mouse Neocortex

Large-scale Three-dimensional Imaging of Cellular Organization in the Mouse Neocortex

Published on: September 5, 2018

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience
Cognitive Science

Background:

Synaptic connections are functionally categorized as drivers (response-evoking) or modulators (activity-altering).
A clear computational basis unifying these distinct synaptic roles in cortical circuits remains elusive.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose a single computational explanation for both driving and modulatory synaptic influences in the cortex.
To demonstrate how perceptual inference can unify these synaptic functions within a predictive coding framework.

Main Methods:

Development of a predictive coding model for cortical perceptual inference.
Treating all synaptic inputs identically within the model framework.
Simulating various neurophysiological phenomena to test the model's explanatory power.

Main Results:

The predictive coding model accounts for both driving and modulatory synaptic influences across different cortical pathways (bottom-up, lateral, top-down).
The model successfully simulates diverse phenomena such as surround suppression, contour integration, gain modulation, spatio-temporal prediction, and attention.
Demonstrates a unified functional explanation for synaptic drivers and modulators.

Conclusions:

Cortical synaptic drivers and modulators are emergent properties of perceptual inference.
A single computational principle underlies diverse synaptic functions in the cortex.
The predictive coding model offers a unified account for a wide range of neurophysiological data.