Theme 1: Perception and Motor System
Problem 1.0
Kolb – Chapter 9: Organization in the Motor System
Posterior cortex: movement and sensory
info from vision, touch, and hearing into
the frontal regions via other sources.
1. Prefrontal cortex: plans movements
2. Premotor cortex: organizes
movement into sequences.
3. Primary motor complex (M1):
specific movements such as hand and
mouth movements.
Posterior cortex → Prefrontal cortex →
premotor cortex → Primary Motor
Cortex.
In simple tasks, premotor and motor cortex. In complex tasks that require planning, temporal,
and prefrontal cortex for decision, premotor and motor for execution.
Mapping the cortex using electrical stimulation: Penfield’s motor homunculus
Natural movement categories
- Primary motor cortex: hands in lower space, manipulate in central space, chewing and
licking.
- Premotor cortex: Climbing, leaping, reach to grasp, defense, hand to mouth.
Visual-parietal-motor connections
- Visual cortex: see object, parietal cortex: know what body part will grab it, motor cortex
grabs it
Mirroring movement:
- Mirror neuron theory: we understand our own actions and those of others by internally
replicating the movements we would use to produce that action.
, - The absence of empathy in autism might be due to no mirror
neuron because these neurons activate in gestural and verbal
language.
The Brainstem: Motor control
- Basal ganglia and movement force: connect motor cortex with the
midbrain and connect the sensory regions to motor cortex.
o Substantia nigra → Caudate and putamen → Thalamus → Cortex
→ Movement
o Damage to basal ganglia: Huntington’s disease, Tourette’s,
Parkinson’s. a lot of involuntary movements (Hyperkinetic
symptoms) or making difficulties making movement (hypokinetic
symptoms).
- The cerebellum and motor learning: balance, eye movements,
posture, walking. It has a role in movement timing and maintaining
movement accuracy. + error correction (Figure 9.17)
Kolb – Chapter 13: The occipital lobe.
V1 (Striate cortex): color, form, motion, V4: color, v5: motion
The theory of occipital lobe function:
- Both v1 and v2 process color, form, and motion.
- V1, v2 → v3: dynamic form (shape of
objects in motion)
Visual functions beyond the occipital lobe:
- Vision for action
- Action for vision
- Visual recognition
- Visual space: egocentric space (relative to
the individual), allocentric space (relative to one
another)
- Visual attention
Visual pathways:
- Dorsal → where? Spatial location
- Ventral → what? Facial recognition
2
,Kolb – Chapter 14: The parietal lobe. (374-384)
The parietal cortex processes and integrates somatosensory and visual
information, especially about controlling movement.
Parietal Lobe Anatomy.
Subdivisions of the Parietal Cortex:
- The parietal lobe can be divided into two areas → anterior (3-1-2-43),
posterior (the rest, posterior parietal cortex).
- PG: related to vision.
- Dorsal stream of visual processing passes through intraparietal sulcus
(cIPS) and the parietal reach regions (PRR)
- The regions in the cIPS contribute to controlling involuntary, abrupt,
and rapid movements of eyes (area LIP) and visual control of object-
directed grasping (AIP)
o
Connections of the Parietal Cortex:
- Area PE is somatosensory, receives connections from the primary
somatosensory cortex (3-1-2).
o PE’s cortical outputs are to the primary motor cortex (4) and supplementary
motor (SMA) and premotor (6-8) and PF.
o Thus, area PE plays a role in guiding movement by providing information about
the limb’s position.
- Area PF has input from the primary somatosensory cortex through PE.
o PF receives inputs from the motor and premotor cortex and a small visual input
from PG.
o PF’s connections are similar to PE, thus, these connections might elaborate
similar info for the motor systems.
- Area PG receives info including visual, skin sensations, internal stimuli, balance, eye
movement, and cingulate. Called “parieto-temporo-occipital-crossroads.”
3
, o PG controls spatially guided behavior with respect to visual and tactile
information.
Anatomy of the Dorsal Stream (Where?):
- Premotor, prefrontal, and medial temporal regions are the three pathways.
o Premotor is the “how” pathway.
o Prefrontal: Visuospatial functions related to the working memory.
o Medial pathway has a role in spatial navigation.
- Thus, the posterior parietal cortex contributes to the dorsal stream by participating in
non-conscious visuospatial behavior. Ex. Reaching and grasping objects.
A Theory of Parietal-Lobe Function.
Anterior zone processes somatic sensations and perceptions while the posterior zone
specializes in integrating sensory input from the somatic and visual regions to a lesser
extent, for controlling body movements.
Behavioral Uses of Spatial Information:
- Object recognition: temporal lobe codes object’s relational properties. Part of this
coding occurs in the polymodal region of the superior temporal sulcus and in the
hippocampal formation.
- Movement guidance: posterior parietal region → activate during sensory input and
movement. The cells in here have two functions:
o (1) receive combinations of sensory, motivational, and related motor inputs, (2)
discharge is enhanced when animal attends to a target or moves toward it.
- Sensorimotor Transformation: neural calculations in which when we move, the locations
of our body parts change and perception of our body must be constantly updated so
that we can make future movements smoothly.
- Spatial navigation: route knowledge or the cognitive spatial map → PRR, medial parietal
region (MPR)
The complexity of spatial information: patients with posterior parietal lesions are impaired at
distinguishing left from right.
Other Parietal-Lobe Functions:
- Acalculia → the inability to perform mathematical operations. These depend on the
polysensory tissue at the left temporoparietal junction.
4
Problem 1.0
Kolb – Chapter 9: Organization in the Motor System
Posterior cortex: movement and sensory
info from vision, touch, and hearing into
the frontal regions via other sources.
1. Prefrontal cortex: plans movements
2. Premotor cortex: organizes
movement into sequences.
3. Primary motor complex (M1):
specific movements such as hand and
mouth movements.
Posterior cortex → Prefrontal cortex →
premotor cortex → Primary Motor
Cortex.
In simple tasks, premotor and motor cortex. In complex tasks that require planning, temporal,
and prefrontal cortex for decision, premotor and motor for execution.
Mapping the cortex using electrical stimulation: Penfield’s motor homunculus
Natural movement categories
- Primary motor cortex: hands in lower space, manipulate in central space, chewing and
licking.
- Premotor cortex: Climbing, leaping, reach to grasp, defense, hand to mouth.
Visual-parietal-motor connections
- Visual cortex: see object, parietal cortex: know what body part will grab it, motor cortex
grabs it
Mirroring movement:
- Mirror neuron theory: we understand our own actions and those of others by internally
replicating the movements we would use to produce that action.
, - The absence of empathy in autism might be due to no mirror
neuron because these neurons activate in gestural and verbal
language.
The Brainstem: Motor control
- Basal ganglia and movement force: connect motor cortex with the
midbrain and connect the sensory regions to motor cortex.
o Substantia nigra → Caudate and putamen → Thalamus → Cortex
→ Movement
o Damage to basal ganglia: Huntington’s disease, Tourette’s,
Parkinson’s. a lot of involuntary movements (Hyperkinetic
symptoms) or making difficulties making movement (hypokinetic
symptoms).
- The cerebellum and motor learning: balance, eye movements,
posture, walking. It has a role in movement timing and maintaining
movement accuracy. + error correction (Figure 9.17)
Kolb – Chapter 13: The occipital lobe.
V1 (Striate cortex): color, form, motion, V4: color, v5: motion
The theory of occipital lobe function:
- Both v1 and v2 process color, form, and motion.
- V1, v2 → v3: dynamic form (shape of
objects in motion)
Visual functions beyond the occipital lobe:
- Vision for action
- Action for vision
- Visual recognition
- Visual space: egocentric space (relative to
the individual), allocentric space (relative to one
another)
- Visual attention
Visual pathways:
- Dorsal → where? Spatial location
- Ventral → what? Facial recognition
2
,Kolb – Chapter 14: The parietal lobe. (374-384)
The parietal cortex processes and integrates somatosensory and visual
information, especially about controlling movement.
Parietal Lobe Anatomy.
Subdivisions of the Parietal Cortex:
- The parietal lobe can be divided into two areas → anterior (3-1-2-43),
posterior (the rest, posterior parietal cortex).
- PG: related to vision.
- Dorsal stream of visual processing passes through intraparietal sulcus
(cIPS) and the parietal reach regions (PRR)
- The regions in the cIPS contribute to controlling involuntary, abrupt,
and rapid movements of eyes (area LIP) and visual control of object-
directed grasping (AIP)
o
Connections of the Parietal Cortex:
- Area PE is somatosensory, receives connections from the primary
somatosensory cortex (3-1-2).
o PE’s cortical outputs are to the primary motor cortex (4) and supplementary
motor (SMA) and premotor (6-8) and PF.
o Thus, area PE plays a role in guiding movement by providing information about
the limb’s position.
- Area PF has input from the primary somatosensory cortex through PE.
o PF receives inputs from the motor and premotor cortex and a small visual input
from PG.
o PF’s connections are similar to PE, thus, these connections might elaborate
similar info for the motor systems.
- Area PG receives info including visual, skin sensations, internal stimuli, balance, eye
movement, and cingulate. Called “parieto-temporo-occipital-crossroads.”
3
, o PG controls spatially guided behavior with respect to visual and tactile
information.
Anatomy of the Dorsal Stream (Where?):
- Premotor, prefrontal, and medial temporal regions are the three pathways.
o Premotor is the “how” pathway.
o Prefrontal: Visuospatial functions related to the working memory.
o Medial pathway has a role in spatial navigation.
- Thus, the posterior parietal cortex contributes to the dorsal stream by participating in
non-conscious visuospatial behavior. Ex. Reaching and grasping objects.
A Theory of Parietal-Lobe Function.
Anterior zone processes somatic sensations and perceptions while the posterior zone
specializes in integrating sensory input from the somatic and visual regions to a lesser
extent, for controlling body movements.
Behavioral Uses of Spatial Information:
- Object recognition: temporal lobe codes object’s relational properties. Part of this
coding occurs in the polymodal region of the superior temporal sulcus and in the
hippocampal formation.
- Movement guidance: posterior parietal region → activate during sensory input and
movement. The cells in here have two functions:
o (1) receive combinations of sensory, motivational, and related motor inputs, (2)
discharge is enhanced when animal attends to a target or moves toward it.
- Sensorimotor Transformation: neural calculations in which when we move, the locations
of our body parts change and perception of our body must be constantly updated so
that we can make future movements smoothly.
- Spatial navigation: route knowledge or the cognitive spatial map → PRR, medial parietal
region (MPR)
The complexity of spatial information: patients with posterior parietal lesions are impaired at
distinguishing left from right.
Other Parietal-Lobe Functions:
- Acalculia → the inability to perform mathematical operations. These depend on the
polysensory tissue at the left temporoparietal junction.
4
