Properties and plasticity of the primate somatosensory and motor cortex related to orofacial sensorimotor function

Abstract

1. The lateral pericentral region of the cerebral cortex has been well documented in primates to be important in sensorimotor integration and control and in the learning of new motor skills. 2. The present article provides, first, an overview of limb sensorimotor cortical mechanisms and, second, outlines recent evidence pointing to an important role for the face sensorimotor cortex in semi-automatic, as well as trained, orofacial motor behaviour and to its propensity for neuroplastic changes in association with orofacial motor skill acquisition or an altered oral environment.