somatosensory cortex

n. The region of the cerebral cortex where the somatic (sensation from the body – touch, pain, pressure, temperature, proprioception, etc.) sensory information is projected and processed. It can be further divided into the primary somatosensory area and somatosensory association area. The primary somatosensory area corresponds to the anterior part of the parietal lobe (postcentral gyrus), roughly the Brodmann's areas 3, 1, and 2. Body information is projected in an up-down way (lower part of the body goes to the upper part; upper part of the body to the lower part); this cortical map of the general body sensitivity is sometimes referred to as the sensory homunculus. The primary somatosensory area receives information from the ventrolateral nucleus of the thalamus. Damage in this cortical area is associated with hypoesthesia, two-point discrimination defects, and similar deficits in using somatosensory information. The somatosensory association cortex includes the Brodmann's areas 5, 7, 39, and 40. These cortical association areas further process the somatosensory information. – AA

▶ See also PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY CORTEX