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Actie - The role of the frontal lobes in Movement and Action

4 important questions on Actie - The role of the frontal lobes in Movement and Action

What is the function of the primary motor cortex?

Responsible for execution of all voluntary movements of the body.

How do neurons decide on a single movement to execute given that lots of different neurons with lots of different preferred movements will be active at a given point of time?

1. The most active neurons at that point in time is the one that dictates the actual movement.

The direction of the resultant movement tend to be computed by summing together the vectors of a whole population of neurons (population vector).

What is the function of the premotor cortex? What are its two devisions?

Electrical stimulation of the premotor cortex modulates the activity of the primary motor cortex.

1. Lateral premotor cortex has been associated with acting objects in the environment. Visual signals.

2. Medial promotor cortex/supplementary motor area (SMA) has been associated with dealing with spontaneous, well-learned actions, particularly action sequences that do not place strong demands on monitoring the environment. Signals concerning the current position of the limbs.