The reason the homunculus for the motor cortex is shaped the way it is (huge face, large hands) is that
A) it is a drawing of all the motor functions of the body, and it is not drawn to scale.
B) the amount of cortex devoted to each part of the body is represented by the relative size of the body part.
C) it is a reproduction of a drawing done in the late eighteenth century.
D) there is an inverse relationship between the actual size of each body part to its representation in the homunculus drawing.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The reason the homunculus for the motor cortex is shaped the way it is (huge face, large hands) is that the amount of cortex devoted to each part of the body is represented by the relative size of the body part. This means that the larger the homunculus body part, the more cortex is dedicated to controlling that part. It is thus a rough representation of how much motor cortex space is dedicated to which area of the body.

The Reason the Homunculus for the Motor Cortex Is Shaped