ANP 1106 Lecture Notes - Primary Motor Cortex, Premotor Cortex, Pyramidal Tracts

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Anatomy and Physiology
• Course: ANP 1106

Document Summary

Lie in posterior parts of the front lobes. This mapping of the body in cns structures is called somatotopy. The motor innervation of the body is contralateral (left primary motor gyrus controls muscles on the right, right controls left) Selects and sequences basic motor movements into more complex tasks. Can control voluntary actions that depend on sensory feedback (like searching for a light switch in a dark room) Coordinates the movements of several muscle groups simultaneously or sequentially influences motor activity more directly by supplying 15% of pyramidal tract fibers. Is a special motor speech area that directs the muscles involved in speech production. Becomes active as we prepare to speak and as we think/ plan many voluntary motor activities. Pyramidal cells in gyri allow us to consciously control the precise voluntary movement of our skeletal muscles. Their long axons form massive voluntary motor tracts called pyramidal tracts.