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Related Concept Videos

Hierarchy of Motor Control01:18

Hierarchy of Motor Control

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The hierarchy of motor control refers to the different levels of organization and processing involved in controlling movement in the body. These levels range from higher cortical areas involved in planning and decision-making to lower spinal cord reflexes that respond automatically to external stimuli.
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Direct Motor Pathways01:11

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The direct motor pathways, also known as the pyramidal tracts, are a group of neural pathways that originate in the brain and descend through the spinal cord. They control the voluntary movement of the body. There are two major direct motor pathways: the corticospinal and the corticobulbar tracts.
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Indirect Motor Pathways01:22

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The indirect motor or extrapyramidal pathways originate in the brainstem, the lower portion of the brain that connects it to the spinal cord. They consist of several distinct tracts, each with specialized functions. The four main tracts of the indirect motor pathways are the vestibulospinal tract, the reticulospinal tract, the tectospinal tract, and the rubrospinal tract.
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Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:24

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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...
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Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

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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.
Motor Areas
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Functional Brain Systems: Reticular Formation01:13

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The reticular formation is a complex network of gray and white matter located within the brainstem extending from the medulla to the midbrain.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 30, 2025

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation
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Tuning the Corticospinal System: How Distributed Brain Circuits Shape Human Actions.

Gerard Derosiere1, Julie Duque1

  • 1CoActions Lab, Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.

The Neuroscientist : a Review Journal Bringing Neurobiology, Neurology and Psychiatry
|January 22, 2020
PubMed
Summary

Action control relies on brain circuits modulating the corticospinal system. Current research overlooks how these pathways equally affect action selection, withholding, and cancellation, necessitating broader investigation.

Keywords:
action cancellationaction controlaction selectionaction withholdingbrain circuitscorticospinal excitabilityintra-cortical circuitsnetwork neurosciencesubcortico-cortical circuitstrans-cortical circuits

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Last Updated: Dec 30, 2025

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Motor Control
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Action control involves selecting, withholding, and canceling movements.
  • The corticospinal system is a key pathway for motor control.
  • Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) probes modulatory influences on the corticospinal system.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review neural data from TMS studies on action control.
  • To examine how different neural pathways modulate the corticospinal system.
  • To identify limitations in current research on action control mechanisms.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing neural data from transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies.
  • Analysis of intra-cortical, trans-cortical, and subcortico-cortical circuits.
  • Examination of circuit contributions to action selection, withholding, and cancellation.

Main Results:

  • Diverse pathways tune corticospinal system activity for action control.
  • Caveats exist regarding the equivalent consideration of circuits for different control processes.
  • Misleading views on regional specialization for specific control processes have arisen.

Conclusions:

  • Current understanding of action control is limited by non-equivalent consideration of neural circuits.
  • The impact of circuits on corticospinal excitability requires re-evaluation.
  • Transversal research approaches are needed for a comprehensive understanding of action control.