Homuncular organization of human motor cortex as indicated by neuromagnetic recordings.

Sources of neural activity identified using non-invasive measurements of cerebral magnetic fields (magnetoencephalography) were found to confirm the somatotopic organization of primary motor cortex for movements of different parts of the body in normal human subjects. Somatotopic maps produced with this technique showed slight differences to the 'classic' homunculus obtained from studies using direct cortical stimulation. These findings indicate that neuromagnetic recordings are capable of localizing cortical activity associated with voluntarily produced movements without the use of external stimulation and provide a new method for studying the functional organization of human motor cortex and its role in voluntary movement.