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

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...

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,...

Propagation of Action Potentials

Propagation of Action Potentials

The propagation of an action potential refers to the process by which a nerve impulse, or "action potential," travels along a neuron.
Neurons (nerve cells) have a resting membrane potential, with a slightly negative charge inside compared to outside. This is maintained by ion channels, such as sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) channels, which control the flow of ions. When a stimulus, like a touch or a signal from another neuron, triggers the neuron, sodium channels open, allowing sodium ions to...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

When less is more: single selfhood-related cues elicit higher selfhood ratings than multiple cues.

Frontiers in cognition·2026

Same author

Theta band activity during event-file retrieval is influenced by stimulus salience in the preceding action episode.

Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior·2026

Same author

Altered neural oscillatory dynamics underlie reduced anticipatory schema use during event segmentation in adolescents with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum disorder.

NeuroImage. Clinical·2026

Same author

How the influence of cingulate-lingual interactions on event segmentation changes from early to late adolescence.

Scientific reports·2026

Same author

Negative Feedback Does Not Reverse Observationally Acquired Binding and Retrieval Effects: A Failed Replication.

Journal of cognition·2026

Same author

Learning from feedback is independent from feedback visibility, but supported by aperiodic neural activity.

NeuroImage·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 28, 2026

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

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

Published on: August 1, 2018

Representational precision in visual cortex reveals outcome encoding and reward modulation during action preparation.

Henk van Steenbergen¹, Christopher M Warren², Simone Kühn³

¹Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, The Netherlands; Leiden University Institute of Psychology, The Netherlands.

|June 17, 2017

Summary

Action preparation enhances perceptual precision in visual areas, aiding task performance. Reward magnitude also boosts precision, but motor cortex representations show opposite effects, revealing key sensorimotor signatures.

Keywords:

Goal-directed behavior Ideomotor theory Multivariate pattern analysis Perceptual representations Representational consistency Reward processing

More Related Videos

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze

Published on: February 20, 2014

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Published on: December 31, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 28, 2026

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

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

Published on: August 1, 2018

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze

Automated Visual Cognitive Tasks for Recording Neural Activity Using a Floor Projection Maze

Published on: February 20, 2014

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Published on: December 31, 2013

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Psychology

Background:

Ideomotor theory posits that goal-directed actions involve anticipating their perceptual consequences.
Understanding the neural basis of action anticipation and its modulation by reward is crucial for explaining sensorimotor control.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if action preparation enhances perceptual representation precision.
To examine the influence of reward magnitude on this anticipatory effect.
To explore how expectation and uncertainty affect neural precision in motor cortex.

Main Methods:

Multivariate analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data.
Examining neural representations in visual areas (EBA, FFA) and motor cortices.
Correlating neural precision with behavioral efficiency.

Main Results:

Action preparation increased neural precision in the extrastriate body area (EBA) and fusiform face area (FFA).
Anticipatory precision correlated with improved action performance.
Reward magnitude enhanced perceptual precision, particularly for high-reward associated actions.
Motor cortex representations showed an inverse relationship with preparation and reward.

Conclusions:

Neural precision in visual areas is a key signature of sensorimotor representations during action anticipation.
The findings support ideomotor theory by demonstrating enhanced perceptual precision during action preparation.
Reward modulates perceptual precision, with distinct effects observed in visual versus motor cortices.