Motor learning: the process by which someone learns to develop skillful movement.
Cerebral Cortex: Part of the brain where learning occurs. The cortex is divided into a motor
and sensory region. The motor region is further broken up into the supplemental motor area,
premotor area and the primary motor cortex. The sensory region is divided into the somatic area
and the somatic association area.
Motor Cortex: The primary motor cortex contains representations of every muscle group in
the body. Some muscle groups of certain regions have more representation than others. For
example, areas involved in fine movement, such as the hands and mouth, are largely represented
,and, therefore,provide more control is provided.
The premotor area controls the movement patterns of muscle groups to perform specific
tasks. An example of this would be stabilization and positioning of proximal extremities so that
distal extremities can perform a task.
The supplemental motor area seems to control “head and eye movements, attitudinal
movements, vocalization and yawning” 1. Little is known about the supplemental motor area. It
seems to set a background for movement of the hands and feet.
Sensory Cortex: The somatosensory cortex lies posterior to the central sulcus and the motor
cortex. It is divided into two main areas, referred to as Somatic Sensory Area I and Somatic
Sensory Area II. Area I seems to play a significantly larger role in sensory function than Area II.
Area I contains regions that correlate directly with specific body parts and receive sensory input
from these areas. This is referred to as the homunculus. Some parts of the body have larger
areas of representation, such as the lips and thumbs, based on the amount of sensory receptors
found in those regions.
The input and output of the cerebral cortex has a somatotopic (body map) organization
in which the cortical neurons influencing muscles, and the sensory information from the various
parts of the body, are arranged in an orderly sequence.
Cerebellum: Area of the brain where fine-tuning of movement occurs. It does not cause muscles
to contract, but processes information of body position and external forces exerted on the
body, along with motor activities elicited by other areas of the brain1. The cerebellum assists in
coordinating movement patterns of the distal extremities, and also in coordinating the timing and
sequence of movement patterns.
The cerebellum has two hemispheres and a middle region called the vermis. It has three
functional divisions, each of which receives input and sends output to distinct parts of the central
nervous system.
The divisions are:
Spinocerebellum: processes information regarding limb and joint position.
Cerebrocerebellum: involved in motor control, such as fine finger movements in typing.
Vestibulocerebellum: involved in balance and eye movement function.