Sensory Motor Association

The cerebral cortex is organized like a patchwork quilt. The various areas, first identified by Brodmann, differ from one another in microscopic structure and function. Visual areas 17, 18, and 19, are in the occipital lobe, somatic sensory areas 3, 1, and 2 are in the parietal lobe, and auditory areas 41 and 42 are in the temporal lobe. On the inferior surface of the parietal lobe (the operculum) and buried in the insula is gustatory area 43, devoted to the sense of taste.

In addition to the analysis of sensory information, the cerebral cortex plays an important role in the control of voluntary movement. The major motor control areas - primary motor cortex area 4, the supplementary motor area, and the premotor area - lie in the frontal lobe, anterior to the central sulcus. In the human brain, large expanses of cortex cannot be assigned to sensory or motor functions. These constitute the association areas of the cortex. Some of the more important areas are the prefrontal cortex, the posterior parietal cortex and the inferotemporal cortex.

  1. Auditory cortex (areas 41, 42)

  2. Inferotemporal cortex (areas 20, 21, 37)

  3. Prefrontal cortex

  4. Premotor area (area 6)

  5. Supplementary motor area (area 6)

  6. Primary motor cortex (area 4)

  7. Somatosensory cortex (areas 3, 1, 2)

  8. Posterior parietal cortex (areas 5, 7)

  9. Visual cortex (areas 17, 18, 19)

  10. Gustatory cortex (area 43)

 

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Revised: May 17, 2008 .