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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
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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.

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...

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,...

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...

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Multiple regions of sensorimotor cortex encode bite force and gape.

Fritzie I Arce-McShane^1,2, Barry J Sessle³, Yasheshvini Ram⁴

¹Department of Oral Health Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.

Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience

|October 9, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The orofacial sensorimotor cortex (OSMcx) precisely controls bite force via individual neurons. Population-level activity in the OSMcx manages static gape during feeding behaviors.

Keywords:

decomposition encoding force gape orofacial population activity sensorimotor cortex

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Motor Control
Sensory Systems

Background:

Precise control of bite force and gape is crucial for feeding.
The role of the orofacial sensorimotor cortex (OSMcx) in bite force and gape control is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how individual neurons and neuronal populations in the OSMcx encode bite force and static gape.
To determine differential encoding across primary motor (MIo), primary somatosensory (SIo), and cortical masticatory (CMA) areas of the OSMcx.

Main Methods:

Recorded neuronal activity from microelectrode arrays in Macaca mulatta (monkeys).
Used generalized linear models to analyze individual neuron encoding properties.
Applied dimensionality reduction techniques to examine population activity related to bite force and gape.

Main Results:

Individual neurons in all OSMcx areas showed stronger encoding of bite force than gape.
Bite force was a better predictor of neural activity in MIo compared to SIo.
Population activity distinguished between bite force levels and gapes, with context-dependent variance explained across areas.

Conclusions:

Cortical control of static gape during biting may involve population-level computations.
Strong individual neuron encoding of bite force facilitates precise and rapid force control.
Findings elucidate the differential roles of OSMcx subregions in motor control during feeding.