Motor And Sensory Homunculus

This site,http://www.cs.uta.fi/~jh/homunculus.html, gives a visual and text explanation of both motor and sensory homunculus.

Motor homunculus—larger parts of the brain control larger parts of the body such as the hand and mouth, which require a lot of “motor” or motion “signals.”  That is, if the human body were to be built in proportion to its motor significance because of the brain power needed to “motor” them, the hands and mouth would be proportionally bigger.  See illustrations below for both motor and sensory homunculus from these sites:  http://www.boingboing.net/2004/12/12/bodies_proportional_.html

http://jwz.livejournal.com/422384.html

Sensory homunculus—Similar to motor homunculus but it tells the brain how much power is needed for sensory perception of different body parts.

Homunculus is Latin for “little man.” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homunculus

The models below show why the issues associated with autism include motor and sensory perception challenges because of how these parts of the body require much attention from the brain.

Motor Homunculus:

"This model shows what a man's body would look like if each part grew in proportion to the area of the cortex of the brain concerned with its movement." - http://jwz.livejournal.com/422384.html

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Sensory Homunculus :

"This model shows what a man's body would look like if each part grew in proportion to the area of the cortex of the brain concerned with its sensory perception." - http://jwz.livejournal.com/422384.html

Amazing sensory swings!  Click on pictures below!

Sensory Integration Bed!

Sensory Site Map