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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...

Working Memory

Working Memory

Working memory refers to a combination of components, including short-term memory and attention, that allow an individual to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks. It is an essential cognitive function that enables the execution of complex tasks such as problem-solving, comprehension, and reasoning. Unlike short-term memory, which simply involves the storage of information for a brief period, working memory involves the active manipulation and processing of this...

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,...

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...

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 19, 2026

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

A Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate Interference in Working Memory by Distractions and Interruptions

Published on: July 16, 2015

Overlapping frontoparietal networks for tactile and visual parametric working memory representations.

Yuan-Hao Wu¹, Işıl Uluç¹, Timo Torsten Schmidt²

¹Neurocomputation and Neuroimaging Unit (NNU), Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany.

|November 7, 2017

Summary

Frontal brain regions maintain frequency information across senses, but not in a common multivariate code. This suggests a generalized role for the frontoparietal cortex in quantitative working memory.

Keywords:

Abstract quantity Frequency discrimination task Parametric Vibrotactile Working memory fMRI MVPA

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuroimaging

Background:

Previous research suggests frontal regions use a supramodal code for working memory (WM) of frequencies across sensory modalities.
This implies sensory-unspecific, quantitative encoding of memorized frequencies.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate which brain regions maintain frequency information across sensory modalities using fMRI.
To search for evidence of a supramodal multivariate WM representation.

Main Methods:

Participants performed a frequency discrimination task, maintaining tactile and visual frequencies in WM.
Multivariate pattern analysis using a support vector regression model was applied to fMRI data.

Main Results:

Sensory cortices showed modality-specific frequency representations.
Frontoparietal regions displayed distinguishable activity patterns for memorized frequencies irrespective of modality.
No common multivariate code for cross-modal frequency representation was found.

Conclusions:

Mnemonic representations of stimulus frequencies are maintained across the cortical hierarchy.
While a supramodal multivariate code was not evident, the frontoparietal cortex plays a generalized role in maintaining quantitative information across sensory modalities.