Michael S. A. Graziano
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195326703
- eISBN:
- 9780199864867
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326703.003.0010
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Sensory and Motor Systems, Behavioral Neuroscience
The classical description of motor cortex as a map of the body is inaccurate, this chapter states. The map is blurred, overlapping, and partially repeated in ways that are difficult to pin down. The ...
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The classical description of motor cortex as a map of the body is inaccurate, this chapter states. The map is blurred, overlapping, and partially repeated in ways that are difficult to pin down. The common modern description of motor cortex as a mosaic of separate areas with different functions is, first, an oversimplification of a blurred and subtle pattern, and second, merely a description without an underlying explanation. This chapter presents a model that reduces the movement repertoire onto the cortical sheet, which appears finally to provide a working explanation of the layout of motor cortex. The model was based on three types of movement dimension: somatotopic, ethological action category, and spatial.Less
The classical description of motor cortex as a map of the body is inaccurate, this chapter states. The map is blurred, overlapping, and partially repeated in ways that are difficult to pin down. The common modern description of motor cortex as a mosaic of separate areas with different functions is, first, an oversimplification of a blurred and subtle pattern, and second, merely a description without an underlying explanation. This chapter presents a model that reduces the movement repertoire onto the cortical sheet, which appears finally to provide a working explanation of the layout of motor cortex. The model was based on three types of movement dimension: somatotopic, ethological action category, and spatial.
