Sensorimotor Cortex

Abstract

In the preceding chapters, the focus has been on the functional anatomy of those thalamic and cortical neuron populations which have a direct role in transmitting to and from the sensorimotor cortex information that is important in the execution of manual tasks such as reaching for, identifying, and retrieving nearby objects (see Figs. 1.1, 1.4) or tracking with the finger the position in visual space of a moving object. Somatosensory and visual information together define the world in which the hand and fingers are moved, the location and physical features of the target object, and the spatial relations of the fingers to this object. The corticospinal neuron populations together transmit to the spinal cord neuron populations information which will shape motoneuron activity and the coordinated hand and finger movements appropriate to the behavioral goal. The effectiveness and sophistication of the finger/hand movements in achieving this behavioral goal ultimately depend on the intervening neuronal processing that occurs in the cerebral cortex and its subcortical connections. In this chapter, we briefly examine these cortical connections.