New mouse brain map published November 13: secondary motor cortex is organised by body part, linked to primary sensory and visual areas
A study published on November 13 in Nature Communications presents a new biological blueprint of how the body of a mouse is represented in its brain. The paper, by Weihao Xu and coauthors, is titled Intrinsic neural dynamics reveal a body-part-specific topography in mouse secondary motor cortex, with DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-78900-3.
The study found a body-part-specific topography inside the mouse secondary motor cortex, known as M2. Structural connectivity from body-part-specific primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and primary visual cortex (V1) to M2 confirmed the M2 topography.
The researchers said a fundamental question in neuroscience is how complex motions that use more than one body part are performed, such as coordinating arm, hand, head and lips to sip a spoonful of soup. The mouse study offers a new map for investigating that question.
Source: Nature Communications
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图中是小鼠大脑的冠状切片图，相关研究绘制了次级运动皮层的身体部位图谱。Syed07, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
