What is the role played by the cerebral cortex in voluntary movement?
The primary motor cortex is involved in the planning and execution of movements. It works in association with other cortical regions (such as the pre-motor areas, supplementary motor areas and the posterior parietal cortex) in addition to sub-cortical regions (like the thalamus and basal ganglia) and of course the cerebellum (which is particularly important for coordination and fine tuning complicated movements). The cortex recieves, and projects, a vast amount of information (about muscle movements, the external environment, balance, sensory, proprioception etc.) and it processes all of this in a very, VERY short space of time. It then sends signals to the appropriate body parts and produces voluntary movement. But it doesn’t stop here, for there is a constant stream of feedback flowing back into the cortex. The important thing to remember is that the brain is an extremely dynamic thing and is constantly re-adjusting the connections within itself to cope with the demands of normal fun
