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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....

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.

The Cochlea

The Cochlea

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.

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,...

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...

Auditory Pathway

Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking...

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Learning in a sensory cortical microstimulation task is associated with elevated representational stability.

Nature communications·2023

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Columnar Lesions in Barrel Cortex Persistently Degrade Object Location Discrimination Performance.

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Transformation of primary sensory cortical representations from layer 4 to layer 2.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 11, 2025

Author Spotlight: Deciphering Neural Circuit Formation from Two-Photon Microscopy and Single Neuron Imaging

Author Spotlight: Deciphering Neural Circuit Formation from Two-Photon Microscopy and Single Neuron Imaging

Published on: November 21, 2023

Representational drift in barrel cortex is receptive field dependent.

Ahmed Alisha¹, Voelcker Bettina¹, Peron Simon¹

¹Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Pl., Rm. 621, New York, NY 10003.

Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology

|November 14, 2023

Summary

Even with changing neural activity, stable behavior can persist. A small group of broadly tuned neurons in the somatosensory cortex (vS1) show high stability, potentially maintaining consistent object detection.

Keywords:

barrel cortex cortical plasticity representational drift

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Last Updated: Jul 11, 2025

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Systems Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience

Background:

Cortical neural populations often change activity over time, a phenomenon known as representational drift.
Maintaining stable behavior despite this neural instability is a significant challenge in understanding brain function.

Conclusions:

A subpopulation of broadly tuned, synchronously active touch neurons in vS1 demonstrates enhanced stability.
These stable neurons may play a crucial role in ensuring behavioral consistency during representational drift.
Understanding neuronal stability mechanisms is key to deciphering how the brain maintains robust behavior.