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Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

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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.
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Non-Invasive Modulation and Robotic Mapping of Motor Cortex in the Developing Brain

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Published on: July 1, 2019

Modulation dynamics in the orofacial sensorimotor cortex during motor skill acquisition.

Fritzie I Arce-McShane¹, Nicholas G Hatsopoulos, Jye-Chang Lee

¹Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, Committees on Computational Neuroscience and Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, and Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1G6, Canada.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience

|April 25, 2014

Summary

Motor learning rapidly changes orofacial sensorimotor cortex activity in both primary motor (MIo) and somatosensory (SIo) areas. These parallel neuroplastic changes in MIo and SIo link sensation and movement during learning.

Keywords:

electrophysiology information learning motor cortex orofacial somatosensory cortex

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Motor Control
Sensorimotor Integration

Background:

The orofacial sensorimotor cortex is crucial for motor learning.
Understanding neuronal dynamics during orofacial motor learning is limited.
Differences in learning-induced changes between primary motor (MIo) and somatosensory (SIo) cortices are unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how motor learning alters neuronal activity dynamics in MIo and SIo.
To compare these changes between MIo and SIo cortices.
To elucidate the neural substrates of sensorimotor learning in the orofacial system.

Main Methods:

Chronic microelectrode recordings from MIo and SIo in monkeys (Macaca mulatta).
Training monkeys on a novel tongue-protrusion task over 8-12 days.
Analysis of neuronal activity changes, mutual information, firing rate variability, and neuronal coherence.

Main Results:

Behavioral improvements correlated with rapid, long-lasting neuronal changes in both MIo and SIo.
Increased task-modulated neurons, force-spiking information, and neuronal coherence; reduced firing variability.
MIo showed a bimodal distribution of correlation lags, while SIo showed a unimodal distribution.
MIo exhibited higher pairwise coherence around force onset compared to SIo.

Conclusions:

Parallel neuroplasticity in MIo and SIo supports sensorimotor learning by linking sensation and movement.
Distinct dynamic organizations in MIo and SIo reflect specialized roles in controlling movement parameters during learning.
Findings provide insights into the neural mechanisms underlying orofacial motor skill acquisition.