Movement & Motor Control
Reflexes, the motor cortex, learning a skill and the debate over mirror neurons.
5 articles
Movement & Motor Control
Intermediate
The Motor Cortex and the Homunculus
From Fritsch and Hitzig's dogs to Penfield's maps and modern brain-computer interfaces: how the motor cortex represents the body, and why the neat 'little man' is only part of the story.
March 23, 2026 · 3 min read
Movement & Motor Control
Intermediate
Motor Learning: How We Learn Skills
From clumsy beginner to automatic expert: the stages of skill learning, the cerebellum's error correction, the basal ganglia's habits, the role of sleep — and what it means for practice.
March 19, 2026 · 2 min read
Movement & Motor Control
Beginner
How the Brain Moves the Body
From intention to action: the motor hierarchy of cortex, basal ganglia, cerebellum, brainstem, spinal cord and motor neurons — and the difference between upper and lower motor neuron damage.
February 26, 2026 · 2 min read
Movement & Motor Control
Beginner
Reflexes
The knee jerk, pulling back from a flame, a baby's grasp: fast, automatic responses wired into the spinal cord and brainstem — how they work and why doctors test them.
February 11, 2026 · 3 min read
Movement & Motor Control
Intermediate
Mirror Neurons: Fact and Hype
Neurons that fire both when a monkey acts and when it watches someone else act: a fascinating discovery from Parma, the grand claims made for it — empathy, language, autism — and what the evidence supports.
January 23, 2026 · 2 min read