{
  "abstract": "Understanding how the body is represented in the motor cortex is key to understanding how the brain controls movement. Although the motor cortex has been mapped in animal models at a fine scale1–10, characterization in humans remains primarily limited to low-resolution recording11–16 and stimulation techniques17–20. Here we created a comprehensive map of the human motor cortex at single-neuron resolution, spanning microelectrode array recordings from 20 arrays across 8 individuals with paralysis from spinal cord injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or brainstem stroke, all enrolled in brain–computer interface clinical trials. These arrays broadly sample the crown of the precentral gyrus (PCG; thought to be composed largely of the premotor cortex (Brodmann area 6)). We found that body parts were highly intermixed, such that the entire body was represented in all sampled locations of the PCG, although the relative strength of body parts was roughly consistent with the motor homunculus17,18. We also found two speech-preferential areas with a broadly tuned, orofacial-dominant area in between them. Throughout the PCG, movement representations of the four limbs were interlinked, with homologous movements of different limbs (for example, toe curl and hand close) having correlated representations. These data provide evidence consistent with an intermixed, interrelated and behaviour-centred organization of the motor cortex3,21. The resulting map also provides important targeting information for brain–computer interfaces that seek to restore motor function. A comprehensive map of the human motor cortex at single-neuron resolution is described.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. ddeo@stanford.edu",
    "Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. ddeo@stanford.edu",
    "Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA",
    "Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA",
    "Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA",
    "Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA",
    "Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA",
    "School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA",
    "VA Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, Rehabilitation R&D Service, Providence VA Medical Center, Providence, RI, USA",
    "Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA",
    "Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA",
    "Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA",
    "Program in Neuroscience, Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA",
    "Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA",
    "Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA",
    "Bio-X Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA",
    "Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 28,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Darrel R. Deo",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1929-8383"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Elizaveta V. Okorokova",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2719-2706"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Anna L. Pritchard",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2945-2927"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Nick V. Hahn",
      "orcid": "0009-0004-1663-2018"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Nicholas S. Card",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6858-268X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Samuel R. Nason",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7127-0986"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Justin J. Jude",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0175-1856"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Thomas Hosman"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Eun Young Choi",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3226-1486"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Deqiang Qiu",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8375-1755"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Yuguang Meng",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6734-8779"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Maitreyee Wairagkar",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9546-2843"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Claire Nicolas",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7761-3943"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Foram B. Kamdar",
      "orcid": "0009-0000-2734-3247"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Carrina Iacobacci",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1690-6272"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Alexander J. Acosta",
      "orcid": "0009-0007-0352-8029"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        10,
        7,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Leigh R. Hochberg",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0261-2273"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Sydney S. Cash",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4557-6391"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11,
        12
      ],
      "name": "Ziv M. Williams",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0017-0048"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Daniel B. Rubin",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6982-9587"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "David M. Brandman",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3224-7019"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Sergey D. Stavisky",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5238-0573"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        13,
        14,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Nicholas Au Yong",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7898-7832"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        14,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Chethan Pandarinath",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1241-1432"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "John E. Downey",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2992-2848"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Sliman J. Bensmaı̈a",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4039-9135"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        15,
        5,
        16
      ],
      "name": "Jaimie M. Henderson",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3276-2267"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Francis R. Willett",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2652-8511"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/541csverg7bd4.bib",
  "cited_by": 19,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41586-026-10653-x",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "541csverg7bd4",
  "issns": [
    "0028-0836",
    "1476-4687"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10653-x",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2805|Motor Control and Adaptation"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7164991137",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13489936",
  "pmid": "42310450",
  "published": "2026-06-17",
  "publisher": "Nature Portfolio",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/541csverg7bd4.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:26:53Z",
      "native_id": "W7164991137",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10653-x"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:2805|Motor Control and Adaptation",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A mosaic of whole-body representations on the human precentral gyrus",
  "title_text": "A mosaic of whole-body representations on the human precentral gyrus",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-04T13:21:11Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/541csverg7bd4",
  "venue": "Nature",
  "versions": []
}