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...

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,...

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....

Parallel Processing

Parallel Processing

The brain processes sensory information rapidly due to parallel processing, which involves sending data across multiple neural pathways at the same time. This method allows the brain to manage various sensory qualities, such as shapes, colors, movements, and locations, all concurrently. For instance, when observing a forest landscape, the brain simultaneously processes the movement of leaves, the shapes of trees, the depth between them, and the various shades of green. This enables a quick and...

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the...

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

From gradients to cognition: linking cortical manifolds to brain flexibility and disorder.

Frontiers in cognition·2026

Same author

Neuropathological study of the effects of aducanumab anti-Aβ immunotherapy on patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Acta neuropathologica·2026

Same author

Dynamic compression of whole-brain neural trajectories during human motor learning.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same author

Rapid responses to reach errors are equally strong during fixation and visual pursuit.

Journal of neurophysiology·2026

Same author

Brain connectivity signatures of cognitive impairment in temporal lobe epilepsy identified by robotic assessment.

Neuroimage. Reports·2026

Same author

Manifold Interactions between the Action-Mode Network and Sensorimotor Cortex during Human Motor Learning.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 11, 2026

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Published on: April 16, 2014

Functional coupling between frontoparietal and occipitotemporal pathways during action and perception.

R Matthew Hutchison¹, Jason P Gallivan²

¹Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior

|November 29, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The occipitotemporal pathway is crucial for object recognition and visually guided actions. Its connectivity with frontoparietal cortex changes based on task demands, especially during sensorimotor tasks.

Keywords:

Action Functional connectivity Perception Resting-state Sensorimotor fMRI

More Related Videos

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping

Published on: August 12, 2019

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Published on: December 31, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 11, 2026

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Published on: April 16, 2014

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping

Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping

Published on: August 12, 2019

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Published on: December 31, 2013

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuroimaging

Background:

The occipitotemporal pathway (OTC) is recognized for its role in visual perception and object recognition.
Its involvement in visually guided actions and sensorimotor processing is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the functional connectivity (FC) between frontoparietal cortex (FPC) and OTC during sensorimotor and visual-perceptual tasks.
To explore how these interactions differ between task conditions and resting-state.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to measure brain activity.
Functional connectivity (FC) analysis and cluster analysis of regional time course data were used to examine interactions.

Main Results:

During visual-perceptual tasks and rest, FPC and OTC connectivity segregated along dorsal/ventral pathway boundaries.
During sensorimotor tasks, ventral-lateral OTC regions showed distinct functional coupling, clustering with parietal sensorimotor areas.

Conclusions:

The functional coupling of OTC regions is flexible and task-dependent.
Lateral occipital cortex plays a key role in integrating dorsal and ventral pathways for sensorimotor control.