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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.

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,...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 10, 2025

Multi-electrode Array Recordings of Neuronal Avalanches in Organotypic Cultures

Multi-electrode Array Recordings of Neuronal Avalanches in Organotypic Cultures

Published on: August 1, 2011

Against cortical reorganisation.

Tamar R Makin¹, John W Krakauer^2,3,4

¹MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

|November 21, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cortical reorganisation is not a distinct form of brain plasticity. Instead, functional changes after neurological insults result from strengthening existing neural pathways, not rewiring.

Keywords:

amputation blindness deafness deprivation neuroscience plasticity rehabilitation stroke

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Neuroplasticity
Cognitive Science

Background:

Neurological insults like stroke can cause significant behavioral changes.
Cortical reorganisation, where brain tissue adopts new functions, is a common explanation.
Classical studies on cortical remapping laid the groundwork for this concept.

Purpose of the Study:

To critically re-evaluate the concept of cortical reorganisation.
To identify empirical, methodological, and conceptual flaws in the notion of reorganisation.
To propose an alternative framework for understanding functional changes in the brain post-insult.

Main Methods:

Review of classical animal and patient studies on cortical remapping.
Analysis of the empirical derivation of cortical maps.
Conceptual critique of remapping interpretations.

Main Results:

The concept of cortical reorganisation is challenged by empirical and methodological issues.
Oversimplified 'winner-takes-all' assumptions in mapping lead to misinterpretations.
Remapping is better explained by potentiation of pre-existing neural architecture.

Conclusions:

Cortical reorganisation, as 'take-over' or 'rewiring,' does not exist as a distinct plasticity mechanism.
Functional changes are constrained by the brain's underlying structural blueprint.
Hebbian and homeostatic plasticity mechanisms facilitate changes within existing capacities.