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Primary motor cortex is defined anatomically as the region of cortex that contains large neurons known as Betz cells, which, along with other cortical neurons, send long axons down the spinal cord to synapse onto the interneuron circuitry of the spinal cord and also directly onto the alpha motor neurons in the spinal cord which connect to the ...
For example, Brodmann areas 1, 2 and 3 are the primary somatosensory cortex; area 4 is the primary motor cortex; area 17 is the primary visual cortex; and areas 41 and 42 correspond closely to primary auditory cortex.
His reasons were largely based on cytoarchitectonics, or the study of the appearance of the cortex under a microscope. The primary motor cortex contains cells with giant cell bodies known as "Betz cells". These cells were mistakenly thought to be the main outputs from the cortex, sending fibers to the spinal cord. [1]
The Betz cells along with their long axons are referred to as upper motor neurons (UMN). There is a precise somatotopic representation of the different body parts in the primary motor cortex, with the leg area located medially (close to the midline), and the head and face area located laterally on the convex side of the cerebral hemisphere ...
A motor neuron (or motoneuron or efferent neuron [1]) is a neuron whose cell body is located in the motor cortex, brainstem or the spinal cord, and whose axon (fiber) projects to the spinal cord or outside of the spinal cord to directly or indirectly control effector organs, mainly muscles and glands. [2]
Betz cells (also known as pyramidal cells of Betz) are giant pyramidal cells located within the fifth layer of the grey matter in the primary motor cortex. These neurons are the largest in the central nervous system, sometimes reaching 100 μm in diameter. [1] [2]
The corticospinal tract originates in several parts of the brain, including not just the motor areas, but also the primary somatosensory cortex and premotor areas. [1] Most of the neurons originate in either the primary motor cortex (precentral gyrus, Brodmann area 4) or the premotor frontal areas.
These movements are supported and regulated by two other areas, lying anterior to the primary motor cortex: the premotor area and the supplementary motor area. [82] The hands and mouth have a much larger area dedicated to them than other body parts, allowing finer movement; this has been visualised in a motor homunculus. [82]