Somatotopy is the point-for-point correspondence of an area of the body to a specific point on the central nervous system.[1] Typically, the area of the body corresponds to a point on the primary somatosensory cortex (postcentral gyrus). This cortex is typically represented as a sensory homunculus which orients the specific body parts and their respective locations upon the homunculus. Areas such as the appendages, digits, penis,[2] and face can draw their sensory locations upon the somatosensory cortex. The areas which are finely controlled (e.g., the digits) have larger portions of the somatosensory cortex whereas areas which are coarsely controlled (e.g., the trunk) have smaller portions. Areas such as the viscera do not have sensory locations on the post central gyrus.[citation needed]
Macaques, a kind of monkey, already exhibit somatotopy in their somatosensory and motor systems at birth.[3]
^Saladin, Kenneth (2012). Anatomy and Physiology. New York: McGraw Hill. pp. 541, 542.
^Kell CA, von Kriegstein K, Rösler A, Kleinschmidt A, Laufs H (June 2005). "The sensory cortical representation of the human penis: revisiting somatotopy in the male homunculus". The Journal of Neuroscience. 25 (25): 5984–7. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0712-05.2005. PMC 6724806. PMID 15976087.
^Arcaro, Michael J.; Schade, Peter F.; Livingstone, Margaret S. (15 November 2019). "Body map proto-organization in newborn macaques". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (49): 24861–24871. doi:10.1073/pnas.1912636116. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 6900594. PMID 31732670.
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Wildgruber D, Erb M. Sensorimotor mapping of the human cerebellum: fMRI evidence of somatotopic organization. Hum Brain Mapp. 2001 Jun;13(2):55-73. v t e...
homunculi. More recent studies have improved this understanding of somatotopicarrangement using techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging...
explained by neuroplasticity. When there is chronic pain, the somatotopicarrangement of the body (the distribution view of nerve cells) is abnormally...
the neurons of both neural maps (see topographic mapping and see somatotopicarrangement). Example: In the case of two neural maps, each comprising 1,000...
basal ganglia afferents At least two modifications to the classical somatotopic ordering of body parts have been reported in the primary motor cortex...
motor skills of octopuses are not organised in their brains via internal somatotopic maps of their bodies. The nervous system of cephalopods is the most complex...
brain that arranges the processing of tactile sensation. This type of somatotopic map is the most common, possibly because it allows for physically neighboring...
topographic map. In the case of the barrel field, the map is somatotopic - based on the arrangement of body parts. Areas corresponding to the nose and mouth...
deflected in the preferred or opposite direction. Lateral line neurons form somatotopic maps within the brain informing the fish of amplitude and direction of...
the motor system of arboreal primates has a disproportionate degree of somatotopic representation of the hands and feet, which is essential for grasping...
in the preferred or opposite direction. Lateral line receptors form somatotopic maps within the brain informing the fish of amplitude and direction of...
microzone is defined as a group of Purkinje cells all having the same somatotopic receptive field. Microzones were found to contain on the order of 1000...
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