Cover Caption

On the cover: The discovery of somatotopic organization within the motor cortex—often graphically depicted in the striking image of a motor homunculus—occurred more than a century ago. Despite the general understanding that neighboring regions of motor cortex control neighboring body parts, over a century of controversy has ensued regarding how, exactly, this control occurs. In particular, does the motor cortex encode the muscular details of motor control or does it encode high-level movement commands, perhaps even stereotyped behaviors? Through an analysis of single neurons, Ajemian et al. (pp. 414–428) suggest that the muscular details of movements are indeed represented in motor cortical activity. The cover depicts an atypical motor homunculus, alluding to the fact that not only are body parts separately represented in motor cortex, but potentially the corresponding geometrical constraints and dynamical requirements of motion for each individuated body part as well. Cover image by Robert Ajemian and Emily Romano.