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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....

The Cochlea

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The cochlea is a coiled structure in the inner ear that contains hair cells—the sensory receptors of the auditory system. Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea by small bones attached to the eardrum called the ossicles, which vibrate the oval window that leads to the inner ear. This causes fluid in the chambers of the cochlea to move, vibrating the basilar membrane.

Mechanism of Ciliary Motion

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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

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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.

Hair Cells

Hair Cells

Hair cells are the sensory receptors of the auditory system—they transduce mechanical sound waves into electrical energy that the nervous system can understand. Hair cells are located in the organ of Corti within the cochlea of the inner ear, between the basilar and tectorial membranes. The actual sensory receptors are called inner hair cells. The outer hair cells serve other functions, such as sound amplification in the cochlea, and are not discussed in detail here.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 21, 2025

Flat-floored Air-lifted Platform: A New Method for Combining Behavior with Microscopy or Electrophysiology on Awake Freely Moving Rodents

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Self-Generated Whisker Movements Drive State-Dependent Sensory Input to Developing Barrel Cortex.

James C Dooley¹, Ryan M Glanz², Greta Sokoloff³

¹Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA; DeLTA Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA.

Current Biology : CB

|May 16, 2020

Summary

Sensory feedback from whisker movements drives barrel cortex activity in developing rats. This movement-related activity is crucial, especially during REM sleep, highlighting the need to consider behavioral states in research.

Keywords:

DeepLabCut REM sleep development myoclonic twitching rat reafference sensorimotor somatosensory spindle burst

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Whisker-signaled Eyeblink Classical Conditioning in Head-fixed Mice

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Published on: March 30, 2016

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Neuroscience

Background:

Cortical development is activity-dependent, but the role of self-generated movement in sensory cortex activity remains debated.
Some studies suggest intrinsic cortical activity, while others emphasize the influence of behavioral state on movement-related activity.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the contribution of sensory feedback from whisker movements to barrel cortex activity in developing rats.
To determine the influence of behavioral state (wake vs. REM sleep) on this relationship.

Main Methods:

Recorded local field and unit activity in the barrel cortex of 5-day-old rats.
Correlated cortical activity with whisker movements during wake and active (REM) sleep.
Analyzed the temporal relationship and amplitude dependence of activity following whisker movements.

Main Results:

Barrel cortex activity significantly increased within 500 ms of whisker movements, particularly during REM sleep twitches.
Higher amplitude movements were more likely to elicit barrel activity.
At least 55% of barrel activity was attributable to sensory feedback from whisker movements, with 70-75% linked to movement overall.

Conclusions:

Sensory feedback from movements is a critical driver of activity in the developing sensorimotor cortex.
Accurate assessment of sensory periphery contributions requires monitoring sleep-wake states.