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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...

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.

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the...

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....

Tactile and Chemical Senses

Tactile and Chemical Senses

Tactile senses encompass touch, temperature, and pain, each mediated by specific receptors. Touch receptors detect mechanical energy or pressure against the skin. Sensory fibers from these receptors enter the spinal cord and relay information to the brain stem. Here, most fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain. The touch information then moves to the thalamus, which projects a map of the body's surface onto the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes in the cerebral cortex.

Thermosensation

Thermosensation

Peripheral thermosensation is the perception of external temperature. A change in temperature (on the surface of the skin and other tissues) is detected by a family of temperature-sensitive ion channels called Transient Receptor Potential, or TRP, receptors. These receptors are located on free nerve endings. Those detecting cold temperatures are closer to the surface of the skin than the nerve endings detecting warmth. These thermoTRP channels, while temperature selective, have relatively...

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Updated: Aug 30, 2025

Multi-layer Cortical Ca2+ Imaging in Freely Moving Mice with Prism Probes and Miniaturized Fluorescence Microscopy

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Physiological Needs: Sensations and Predictions in the Insular Cortex.

Yael Prilutski¹, Yoav Livneh¹

¹Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

Physiology (Bethesda, Md.)

|August 30, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The insular cortex is key to regulating physiological needs like hunger and thirst. This review explores how it works and offers a framework for future research in health and disease.

Keywords:

homeostasis insular cortex interoception motivation predictive coding

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Physiology
Behavioral Science

Background:

Physiological needs, such as thirst and hunger, drive motivated behaviors.
The insular cortex is increasingly recognized for its role in regulating these needs.
Understanding its function is crucial for addressing related health conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

To review mechanistic models of insular cortex function in physiological need regulation.
To present a framework for testing these models.
To guide future research in both healthy and pathological states.

Main Methods:

Literature review of existing studies on the insular cortex and physiological needs.
Synthesis of prominent mechanistic models.
Development of a conceptual and analytical framework.

Main Results:

Identified key models explaining insular cortex roles in homeostasis and motivation.
Proposed a framework integrating neurobiological and behavioral approaches.
Highlighted the need for empirical testing of these models.

Conclusions:

The insular cortex plays a central role in the neural circuitry of physiological needs.
The proposed framework facilitates rigorous investigation of its functions.
This research can inform interventions for disorders related to motivated behavior.