New research: Investigating the location of muscle representations in the brain

Areas in a part of the brain called motor cortex that control various muscles in our body (for example hand, shoulder, and face muscles) are organised in a specific manner. An important chemical messenger in our brain called ‘GABA’ is then responsible for keeping these areas separated so that signals between these areas do not get mixed up. In this study we used brain stimulation (transcranial magnetic stimulation) to produce movements in these muscles. This helps us to create maps of the location of these muscles in the brain (similar to a map of the UK showing that Nottingham is central whereas London is in the south). The results showed that there was a strong relationship between the distance of areas in our maps and the sensations some people feel before a tic.

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