A mosaic of whole-body representations on the human precentral gyrus
17 affiliations
- 1Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. [email protected]
- 2Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. [email protected]
- 3Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- 4Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- 5Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
- 6Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- 7Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- 8School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
- 9VA Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology, Rehabilitation R&D Service, Providence VA Medical Center, Providence, RI, USA
- 10Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- 11Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
- 12Department of Neurosurgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- 13Program in Neuroscience, Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- 14Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- 15Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- 16Bio-X Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- 17Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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.
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BibTeX
@article{deo2026mosaic,
title = {{A mosaic of whole-body representations on the human precentral gyrus}},
author = {Darrel R. Deo and Elizaveta V. Okorokova and Anna L. Pritchard and Nick V. Hahn and Nicholas S. Card and Samuel R. Nason and Justin J. Jude and Thomas Hosman and Eun Young Choi and Deqiang Qiu and Yuguang Meng and Maitreyee Wairagkar and Claire Nicolas and Foram B. Kamdar and Carrina Iacobacci and Alexander J. Acosta and Leigh R. Hochberg and Sydney S. Cash and Ziv M. Williams and Daniel B. Rubin and David M. Brandman and Sergey D. Stavisky and Nicholas Au Yong and Chethan Pandarinath and John E. Downey and Sliman J. Bensmaı̈a and Jaimie M. Henderson and Francis R. Willett},
journal = {Nature},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1038/s41586-026-10653-x},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10653-x},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A mosaic of whole-body representations on the human precentral gyrus
AU - Darrel R. Deo
AU - Elizaveta V. Okorokova
AU - Anna L. Pritchard
AU - Nick V. Hahn
AU - Nicholas S. Card
AU - Samuel R. Nason
AU - Justin J. Jude
AU - Thomas Hosman
AU - Eun Young Choi
AU - Deqiang Qiu
AU - Yuguang Meng
AU - Maitreyee Wairagkar
AU - Claire Nicolas
AU - Foram B. Kamdar
AU - Carrina Iacobacci
AU - Alexander J. Acosta
AU - Leigh R. Hochberg
AU - Sydney S. Cash
AU - Ziv M. Williams
AU - Daniel B. Rubin
AU - David M. Brandman
AU - Sergey D. Stavisky
AU - Nicholas Au Yong
AU - Chethan Pandarinath
AU - John E. Downey
AU - Sliman J. Bensmaı̈a
AU - Jaimie M. Henderson
AU - Francis R. Willett
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/17
JO - Nature
DO - 10.1038/s41586-026-10653-x
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10653-x
AB - 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.
SN - 0028-0836
SN - 1476-4687
ER -