The primary somatosensory area (SI) traditionally has been related with somatosensory perception (localization of touch, two-point discrimination, propioception, etc). Functional studies have demonstrated that SI also participates in movement organization (e.g., voluntary hand and tongue movements), “anticipation”, and “mirror neurons” (i.e., neurons that are active when observing the action of others). Mirror neurons were initially observed in macaques in the premotor and parietal cortical areas, and only recently, reported in humans. Mirror neurons probably play a crucial role in action understanding, anticipation, imitation, imagery, social behavior, and the like; that is, in the internal representations of actions. SI activation during movement performance reflects its participation in an extensive movement network that usually includes not only the primary motor cortex, but also the premotor cortex, the basal ganglia and the cerebellum.
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