The motor cortex is the region of the cerebral cortex that plans, controls, and executes voluntary movement. Located in the frontal lobe immediately anterior to the central sulcus, it comprises the primary motor cortex, which sends descending commands to spinal and brainstem circuits that drive muscles, together wit…
The motor cortex is the region of the cerebral cortex that plans, controls, and executes voluntary movement. Located in the frontal lobe immediately anterior to the central sulcus, it comprises the primary motor cortex, which sends descending commands to spinal and brainstem circuits that drive muscles, together with adjacent premotor and supplementary motor areas that prepare and sequence movement. The primary motor cortex is somatotopically organised, so that distinct cortical zones correspond to different body parts, an arrangement classically depicted as the motor homunculus. Movement arises from the integration of signals across these areas with input from the basal ganglia, cerebellum, and sensory cortex, allowing actions to be selected, coordinated, and refined. Output travels largely via the corticospinal tract, and damage to the motor cortex or its pathways produces weakness or paralysis. The region exhibits plasticity, reorganising in response to learning, experience, and injury, which underlies motor skill acquisition and recovery after events such as stroke. Functional neuroimaging allows the motor cortex and related areas to be mapped during specific tasks, illuminating how the brain represents and governs action. Understanding its structure, organisation, and adaptability is central to neuroscience, to the diagnosis of movement disorders, and to rehabilitation.
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