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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...

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,...

Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways

Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways

Somatic sensory or somatosensory pathways refer to the neural pathways that carry information related to touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception from the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints to the brain. These pathways involve several stages of processing and integration of sensory information.
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...

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...

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.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 26, 2026

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain

Published on: October 13, 2023

Spatial Navigation: Retrosplenial Cortex Encodes the Spatial Structure of Complex Routes.

Benjamin J Clark¹

¹Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.

Current Biology : CB

|July 12, 2017

Summary

Scientists discovered brain cells in rats that map specific routes and their positions within a larger environment. This finding sheds light on spatial navigation and memory encoding.

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Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain

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Published on: April 24, 2009

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Spatial Navigation Research

Background:

The retrosplenial cortex is implicated in spatial processing and memory.
Understanding neural representations of complex environments is crucial for cognitive neuroscience.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate neural activity in the rat retrosplenial cortex during navigation.
To identify how specific environmental routes and their contextual positions are encoded by neurons.

Main Methods:

Electrophysiological recordings were performed in the retrosplenial cortex of rats.
Rats navigated through a complex, multi-path environment.
Neural data was analyzed to identify firing patterns related to specific route segments and allocentric positioning.

Main Results:

Identified distinct populations of cells encoding specific route-segments within the complex environment.
Demonstrated that these cells also encode the relative position of route-segments within an allocentric spatial framework.
Revealed a neural mechanism for segmenting and contextualizing navigation paths.

Conclusions:

The retrosplenial cortex plays a key role in representing complex environments by encoding route-segments and their allocentric relationships.
This provides a neural basis for how animals construct and remember multi-stage routes.
Findings advance our understanding of the neural underpinnings of spatial cognition and memory.