What does somatosensory cortex mean?

The somatosensory cortex is a region of the brain which is responsible for receiving and processing sensory information from across the body, such as touch, temperature, and pain. ... The somatosensory cortex receives tactile information from the body, including sensations such as touch, pressure, temperature, and pain.

1. What is the somatosensory cortex?
2. What is the main function of the primary somatosensory cortex?
3. What is the cortex of the brain responsible for?
4. Where is the somatosensory cortex located in the brain?
5. How is Somatosensation organized in the brain?
6. Why is somatosensory important?
7. How does the somatosensory cortex help you drive?
8. What happens if you damage your somatosensory cortex?
9. How does the somatosensory system work?
10. What does the forebrain develop into?
11. What part of the brain controls emotions?
12. What happens if cerebral cortex is damaged?
13. Is the somatosensory cortex part of the neocortex?
14. What is the insula?
15. How does the location of the somatosensory cortex help us to better understand the function?

What is the somatosensory cortex?

The primary somatosensory cortex is responsible for processing somatic sensations. These sensations arise from receptors positioned throughout the body that are responsible for detecting touch, proprioception (i.e. the position of the body in space), nociception (i.e. pain), and temperature.

What is the main function of the primary somatosensory cortex?

The primary somatosensory cortex is called S1. This area of the cerebral cortex receives sensory information from the somatic senses, plus proprioceptive senses and some visceral senses. It is located on the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe, as shown in Figure 4.3.

What is the cortex of the brain responsible for?

Cerebral Cortex Lobe Functions. The cerebral cortex, which is the outer surface of the brain, is associated with higher level processes such as consciousness, thought, emotion, reasoning, language, and memory.

Where is the somatosensory cortex located in the brain?

The somatic sensory cortex in humans, which is located in the parietal lobe, comprises four distinct regions, or fields, known as Brodmann's areas 3a, 3b, 1, and 2. Although area 3b is generally known as the primary somatic sensory cortex (also called SI), all four areas are involved in processing tactile information.

How is Somatosensation organized in the brain?

Somatosensory neurons are topographically (i.e., spatially) organized so that adjacent neurons represent neighboring regions of the body or face (Figure 4.4). This organization is preserved by a precise point-to-point somatotopic pattern of connections from the spinal cord and brain stem to the thalamus and cortex.

Why is somatosensory important?

The somatosensory system is distributed throughout all major parts of our body. It is responsible for sensing touch, temperature, posture, limb position, and more. It includes both sensory receptor neurons in the periphery (eg., skin, muscle, and organs) and deeper neurons within the central nervous system.

How does the somatosensory cortex help you drive?

The somatosensory cortex enables our eyes and ears to be active while driving. Listening to someone talk while driving drops driving performance, as it reduces the activity of the parietal lobe. It is crucial for navigation as it is associated with spatial processing.

What happens if you damage your somatosensory cortex?

Finally, somatosensory cortex damage can produce numbness or tingling/prickling sensations in certain parts of the body (i.e. paresthesia). Since the face and hands have the most receptors and take up the largest area of the cortex, they are vulnerable to numbness and/or tingling.

How does the somatosensory system work?

The somatosensory systems inform us about objects in our external environment through touch (i.e., physical contact with skin) and about the position and movement of our body parts (proprioception) through the stimulation of muscle and joints.

What does the forebrain develop into?

The forebrain controls body temperature, reproductive functions, eating, sleeping, and the display of emotions. At the five-vesicle stage, the forebrain separates into the diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus, subthalamus, and epithalamus) and the telencephalon which develops into the cerebrum.

What part of the brain controls emotions?

The limbic system is a group of interconnected structures located deep within the brain. It's the part of the brain that's responsible for behavioral and emotional responses.

What happens if cerebral cortex is damaged?

The cerebral cortex plays a crucial role in nearly all brain functions. Damage to it can cause many cognitive, sensory, and emotional difficulties.

Is the somatosensory cortex part of the neocortex?

Lesions confined to these areas produce predictable dysfunction in texture, size, and shape discrimination. Somatosensory cortex, like other neocortex, is layered. Like other sensory cortex (i.e., visual and auditory) the thalamic inputs project into layer IV, which in turn project into other layers.

What is the insula?

The insula (or insular cortex) is a thin ribbon of gray matter tissue that lies just deep to the lateral brain surface, separating the temporal lobe from the inferior parietal cortex.

How does the location of the somatosensory cortex help us to better understand the function?

These structures are more sensitive, so therefore, the larger the somatosensory cortex area devoted to it. ... How does the location of the somatosensory cortex help us better understand the function? It's located in the parietal lobe. This lobe is concerned with the receiving of stimuli from the environment.