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

Direct Motor Pathways

Direct Motor Pathways

The direct motor pathways, also known as the pyramidal tracts, are a group of neural pathways that originate in the brain and descend through the spinal cord. They control the voluntary movement of the body. There are two major direct motor pathways: the corticospinal and the corticobulbar tracts.
The corticospinal tract is responsible for the voluntary movement of the limbs and trunk. It originates in the cerebral cortex of the brain and descends through the cerebrum's internal capsule and...

Diencephalon: Thalamus and Information Relay

Diencephalon: Thalamus and Information Relay

The thalamus, often called “the gateway to the cerebral cortex,” is vital in processing and directing sensory and motor signals throughout the brain. Almost all inputs destined for the cerebral cortex, except for olfactory signals, are relayed through the thalamus. The thalamus is a sophisticated relay station, channeling information from various brain regions to the cerebral cortex, as well as a filter, prioritizing certain signals over others based on current physiological...

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....

Hierarchy of Motor Control

Hierarchy of Motor Control

The hierarchy of motor control refers to the different levels of organization and processing involved in controlling movement in the body. These levels range from higher cortical areas involved in planning and decision-making to lower spinal cord reflexes that respond automatically to external stimuli.

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Population codes for context-dependent decision-making.

Current opinion in neurobiology·2026

Same author

Decomposing the modulation of interactions between neuronal populations.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Conserved role of primary motor cortex in the control of prehension in mice and macaques.

Cell reports·2026

Same author

Toward a general framework for kinematic coding. reply to comments on "kinematic coding: Measuring information in naturalistic behaviour".

Physics of life reviews·2026

Same author

Contribution of spike timing to the neural code: from fast to slow timescales.

Biological cybernetics·2026

Same author

Shared somatosensory-motor neural population dynamics track motor recovery after stroke.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 28, 2025

Study Motor Skill Learning by Single-pellet Reaching Tasks in Mice

Study Motor Skill Learning by Single-pellet Reaching Tasks in Mice

Published on: March 4, 2014

Information flow between motor cortex and striatum reverses during skill learning.

Stefan M Lemke¹, Marco Celotto², Roberto Maffulli³

¹Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Corso Bettini 31, 38068 Rovereto, Italy; Neurology Service, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 4150 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, 1700 Owens Street, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 116 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.

Current Biology : CB

|April 11, 2024

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Neural communication during skill learning shifts information flow direction between the motor cortex and striatum. This study reveals how behaviorally relevant information is dynamically routed for effective motor control.

Keywords:

information flow information theory motor control motor cortex partial information decomposition skill learning striatum

More Related Videos

Investigating Motor Skill Learning Processes with a Robotic Manipulandum

Investigating Motor Skill Learning Processes with a Robotic Manipulandum

Published on: February 12, 2017

Author Spotlight: Using Motor Imagery Brain-Computer Interface to Improve Motor and Cognitive Function in Stroke Patients

Author Spotlight: Using Motor Imagery Brain-Computer Interface to Improve Motor and Cognitive Function in Stroke Patients

Published on: September 1, 2023

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 28, 2025

Study Motor Skill Learning by Single-pellet Reaching Tasks in Mice

Study Motor Skill Learning by Single-pellet Reaching Tasks in Mice

Published on: March 4, 2014

Investigating Motor Skill Learning Processes with a Robotic Manipulandum

Investigating Motor Skill Learning Processes with a Robotic Manipulandum

Published on: February 12, 2017

Author Spotlight: Using Motor Imagery Brain-Computer Interface to Improve Motor and Cognitive Function in Stroke Patients

Author Spotlight: Using Motor Imagery Brain-Computer Interface to Improve Motor and Cognitive Function in Stroke Patients

Published on: September 1, 2023

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Neuroscience
Motor Control

Background:

Neural coordination across brain regions is often equated with communication controlling behavior.
The actual transfer of behaviorally relevant information between areas remains largely untested.

Purpose of the Study:

To quantify the encoding and exchange of behaviorally relevant information between the motor cortex and striatum during skill learning.
To investigate the directionality of information flow during motor skill acquisition.

Main Methods:

Utilized information-theoretic tools to analyze neural activity in rats during reach-to-grasp movements.
Quantified encoding and exchange of behaviorally relevant information in motor cortex and striatum.
Compared findings with standard analytical methods assessing overall neural activity and information exchange.

Main Results:

Identified a temporal shift in the encoding of behaviorally relevant information during skill learning.
Observed a reversal in information flow: from cortex-to-striatum (naive) to striatum-to-cortex (skilled).
Standard methods failed to capture these dynamics, showing only overall signal coactivation and bidirectional information propagation.

Conclusions:

Skill learning involves a transformation in how behaviorally relevant information is routed between cortical and subcortical areas.
Isolating behavior-relevant neural activity is crucial for understanding directional interactions in coordinated networks.