Brodmann's Interactive Atlas

AREA 4
(Primary motor cortex - Precentral gyrus)

Associated Functions
Reviwer's note

According to functional neuroimaging techniques BA4 participates in three different groups of functions: Motor, somatosensory, and “others” (“verbal encoding during a non-semantic process”, “attention to action”, and “motor memory for visual landmarks”). Motor function is the traditional function, and occasionally it has been reported that the primary motor cortex reacts to sensory stimulation. Nonetheless, in these cases the primary motor activation is found in addition to a more extensive pattern of activation, obviously including sensory areas; that is, the BA4 may some times be included in a brain circuitry supporting sensory perception; BA4 activation may reflect in those cases the implicit representation of a potential movement. This implicit representation of movements can also account for “attention to action” and “motor memory”. The participation in “verbal encoding during a non-semantic process” is probably  tangential, considering that it becomes activated (in addition to frontal and temporal networks) only during “successful encoding”, suggesting a certain role in the attentional process (increased muscle tone?)

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