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One day you start to feel bad and suddenly you find it difficult to perform some movements that you previously performed without any problem. It may happen that you stop feeling pain, discomfort or sensitivity in a particular area of the body such as the fingers, face, arms, among others. Your daily activities are directly affected by these inconveniences. Maybe it has happened to you at some point in your life or it has happened to someone you know. Our body gives us signals that we must pay attention to in order to take care of them. There are some diseases such as epilepsy that influence the performance of the brain. However, today we have ways to study our brains to find out how it works. Do you want to know more about this? In this Psychology-Online article, we will provide you with information about What is Penfield’s homunculus sensory and motor.
History of the Penfield Homunculus
The Penfield homunculus has its origin in the studies and developments carried out by the doctor Wilden Penfield about graphic representations of the brain. This doctor was looking for ways to cure some neurological diseases such as epilepsy, among others.
During 1928, Dr. Penfield worked with Otfrif Foerster to create a method to study different brain areas. There were certain patients who had brain injuries caused by various diseases and/or accidents, such that electrodes were placed in different sectors of the head. Next, small electric shocks were sent to them in order to know if some areas of the cerebral cortex responded to these stimuli. This ultimately resulted in doctors knowing whether or not there were affected areas that could be removed.
Why is the study of Penfield’s homunculus important? These studies allowed Penfield to develop a graphic representation of the brain which shows that there is a connection between different parts of the human bodybody sensitivity and neurons that transport information that is decoded internally.
Image: Somatosphere
Function of Penfield’s homunculus
What does the homunculus represent? Penfield’s homunculus gives us the possibility of accessing a body map in which both the motor area and the sensory area of the body are represented human. This graph is used by doctors specialized in neuropsychiatry for the diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases with a neurological basis that can cause damage to different specific areas of the cerebral cortex. For this reason, the approach to this type of problem must be carried out by a health professional since the knowledge and experience they have enable them to indicate an appropriate treatment according to the characteristics of the patient. It is important that we know that there are variables that influence the clinical diagnosis such as age, sex, family history and pre-existing diseases of the patient, among others.
Next, we will see what the motor and sensory Penfield homunculus is and where it is located.
Image: Somatosphere
The two brain homunculi
exist two types of brain homunculi that we need to distinguish since they have different functions and characteristics from each other. Next, we will see the location of the sensory and motor Penfield homunculus and describe the most important qualities of each of them:
What is the motor homunculus and where is it located?
The motor homunculus corresponds to the regulation and control of body movements. It is located in the center of the frontal cortex, which includes the frontal lobe of the brain. The motor homunculus simultaneously receives and sends sensory information that is used for planning and executing movements. The graphic representation of the motor homunculus includes several areas of the human body such as the face, fingers and arms, among others. In addition, the functions of each of these parts of the body such as swallowing and blinking also appear. If we look at the Penfield motor homunculus graph, we can notice that there are some areas larger than others, beyond the actual size of each sector. This is because the larger the area represented, the more intense the neuronal connections are and the more space it occupies within the cerebral cortex.
What is the sensory homunculus and where is it located?
The sensory homunculus is the brain area responsible for graphically represent the body’s sensitivity to touch, pressure and pain that a person can experience. Its location consists of the parietal lobe in the area that joins the frontal lobe. This area sends and receives information largely through the thalamus, which is responsible for the integration of different sensations that are perceived. In this way, it is possible to obtain a variety of stimuli and decode them in the body thanks to the neural connections found in this area of the brain.
In this article, you will find more information about .
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This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Gordillo León, Mestas Hernández, L. (May 29, 2020). lThe traces of our evolution in the brain: Penfield’s homunculus. Retrieved from: https://www.neuromexico.org/2020/05/29/las-huellas-de-nuestra-evolucion-en-el-cerebro-el-homunculo-de-penfield/
- Pesudo, JV, González-Darder, JM (2004). Electrical stimulation of the motor cortex for the treatment of central pain and peripheral pain due to deafferentation. Spanish Pain Society Magazine, 11 (7), 370-379.
- Sallés, L., Gironés, X., Lafuente, JV (2013). Motor organization of the cerebral cortex and the role of the mirror neuron system. Clinical Medicine Magazine, 144 (1), 30-34.