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....

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Visual experience exerts an instructive role on cortical feedback inputs to the primary visual cortex.

Current biology : CB·2026

Same author

Visual experience reduces the spatial redundancy between cortical feedback inputs and primary visual cortex neurons.

Neuron·2024

Same author

Auditory cortex conveys non-topographic sound localization signals to visual cortex.

Nature communications·2024

Same author

In vivo measurement of afferent activity with axon-specific calcium imaging.

Nature neuroscience·2018

Same author

The functional organization of cortical feedback inputs to primary visual cortex.

Nature neuroscience·2018

Same author

Multilaminar networks of cortical neurons integrate common inputs from sensory thalamus.

Nature neuroscience·2016

Same journal

The exquisite mechanics of a tsetse bite.

eLife·2026

Same journal

Distinct involvements of the subthalamic nucleus subpopulations in reward-biased decision-making in monkeys.

eLife·2026

Same journal

Pink1-mediated mitophagy in the endothelium releases proteins encoded by mitochondrial DNA and activates neutrophil responses during inflammation.

eLife·2026

Same journal

Restraint of melanoma progression by cells in the local skin environment.

eLife·2026

Same journal

Brawn before bite in endemic Asian eutherian mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction.

eLife·2026

Same journal

Experimental evolution to thermal stress indicates climate resilience in a cosmopolitan arthropod.

eLife·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 19, 2025

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Published on: January 22, 2018

Laminar-specific cortico-cortical loops in mouse visual cortex.

Hedi Young¹, Beatriz Belbut¹, Margarida Baeta¹

¹Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Center for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal.

|February 1, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cortical circuits selectively form recurrent connections, particularly in deeper layers, to create functional loops. This wiring preferentially impacts looped neurons, highlighting distinct roles for different cortical layers in brain computations.

Keywords:

cortical circuits hierarchical processing mouse neuroscience visual cortex

More Related Videos

Large-scale Three-dimensional Imaging of Cellular Organization in the Mouse Neocortex

Large-scale Three-dimensional Imaging of Cellular Organization in the Mouse Neocortex

Published on: September 5, 2018

Multiscale Investigations of Cortical Processing by Integrating Laminar Polytrodes and Optogenetics with Micro Electrocorticography in Rodents

Multiscale Investigations of Cortical Processing by Integrating Laminar Polytrodes and Optogenetics with Micro Electrocorticography in Rodents

Published on: May 23, 2025

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Nov 19, 2025

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Published on: January 22, 2018

Large-scale Three-dimensional Imaging of Cellular Organization in the Mouse Neocortex

Large-scale Three-dimensional Imaging of Cellular Organization in the Mouse Neocortex

Published on: September 5, 2018

Multiscale Investigations of Cortical Processing by Integrating Laminar Polytrodes and Optogenetics with Micro Electrocorticography in Rodents

Multiscale Investigations of Cortical Processing by Integrating Laminar Polytrodes and Optogenetics with Micro Electrocorticography in Rodents

Published on: May 23, 2025

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience
Systems Neuroscience

Background:

Recurrent interactions are theorized in cortical hierarchy but selective wiring for looped computations remains unclear.
Understanding circuit specificity is crucial for deciphering hierarchical information processing.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if cortical circuits are selectively wired for recurrent computations.
To compare synaptic input to looped neurons versus other projection neurons.

Main Methods:

Subcellular channelrhodopsin-2-assisted circuit mapping in mouse visual cortex.
Comparison of feedforward (FF) and feedback (FB) cortico-cortical (CC) synaptic input.
Analysis of cell-type selectivity and connection strength in different cortical layers.

Main Results:

FF and FB afferents showed similar cell-type selectivity, with stronger connections to looped neurons in layers 5 and 6, but not layer 2/3.
Selective modulation of activity was observed in looped neurons.
Stronger connections in looped layer 5 neurons were predominantly on apical tufts, not perisomatic dendrites.

Conclusions:

Cortico-cortical connections are selectively wired to form monosynaptic excitatory loops.
Supragranular and infragranular neurons play differential roles in hierarchical recurrent computations.
Findings reveal specific circuit architecture supporting recurrent processing in the visual cortex.