News Neuroscience

The classic map of how the human brain manages movement gets an update

Three small regions unexpectedly connect to a network known for planning and pain perception

An illustration of a blue person from the shoulders up with their head turned in profile and the outline of their brain. There are several different colored lines following the contour of the person.

A new brain-mapping study tweaks what we know about how an area of the brain called the primary motor cortex controls our movements.

Sara Moser/Washington University

By Nora Bradford

The classical view of how the human brain controls voluntary movement might not tell the whole story.

That map of the primary motor cortex — the motor homunculus — shows how this brain region is divided into sections assigned to each body part that can be controlled voluntarily (SN: 6/16/15).