All articles tagged with #motor cortex
Traditional mechanistic methods fail to explain complex, flexible brain circuits like the motor cortex. Researchers are shifting toward holistic approaches using 'digital twins'—virtual animals with artificial neural networks—to understand how structure, dynamics, and function align in recurrent systems.
A new study in Nature demonstrates that stimulating approximately 20 specific neurons in the mouse motor cortex can trigger learned movements, confirming the active role of these neural ensembles in motor skill execution.
HD mice exhibit reduced activity in VIP inhibitory neurons and corticostriatal neurons in the motor cortex, correlating with motor deficits. Optogenetic activation of VIP interneurons normalizes their activity and rescues downstream corticostriatal neuron function, producing lasting improvements in movement that persist for days, suggesting cortical inhibition modulation as a potential therapeutic strategy for HD.
An eight-participant BrainGate study mapped the crown of the human precentral gyrus at single-neuron resolution, finding whole-body representations at every sampled site with intermingled limb and speech tuning that partially follows the classic motor homunculus. The researchers identify four functional zones and demonstrate a compositional, limb-independent neural code that links limbs and allows robust decoding of 46 movements across regions, informing targeted strategies for multi-function motor BCIs and challenging strict somatotopy hypotheses.
The article explores how sensory expectations influence neural population activity in motor circuits, shedding light on the neural mechanisms underlying movement preparation and control.
Previously overlooked areas of the brain's motor cortex appear to link control of specific muscles with information about the entire body and brain, challenging the conventional wisdom that the motor cortex solely controls movement. The interconnected system is involved in planning, goals, and emotion, and can directly influence blood pressure and heart rate. The new view of the primary motor cortex may help explain how the brain solves difficult problems and weaves together movement and mental states, which could explain why our posture changes with our mood or why exercise tends to make us feel better.
Researchers have discovered a previously unknown system within the motor cortex of the brain that connects body movement with thinking, planning, mental arousal, pain, and control of internal organs. This system is manifested in multiple nodes located between areas of the brain responsible for the movement of specific body parts and is engaged when many different body movements are performed together.
Researchers have discovered a previously unknown system within the motor cortex called the somato-cognitive action network (SCAN), which is connected to brain regions involved in thinking, planning, mental arousal, pain, and control of internal organs. The SCAN is more important for integrated, whole-body movements and is more connected to high-level planning regions of the brain. The findings underscore how there is more to learn about the human brain and its mind-body connection.