Three coloured spots on each half of the brain illuminate special locations in the movement areas of the brain that connect to areas involved in thinking, planning and control of basic bodily functions such as heart rate, in an undated illustration.WASHINGTON - The relationship between the human mind and body has been a subject that has challenged great thinkers for millennia, including the philosophers Aristotle and Descartes.
They identified a previously unknown system within the motor cortex manifested in multiple nodes that are located in between areas of the brain already known to be responsible for movement of specific body parts - hands, feet and face - and are engaged when many different body movements are performed together.
This network also was found to correspond with brain regions that, as shown in studies involving monkeys, are connected to internal organs including the stomach and adrenal glands, allowing these organs to change activity levels in anticipation of performing a certain action. That may explain physical responses like sweating or increased heart rate caused by merely pondering a difficult future task, they said."Basically, we now have shown that the human motor system is not unitary.
"Since this system, the SCAN, seems to integrate abstract plans-thoughts-motivations with actual movements and physiology, it provides additional neuroanatomical explanation for why 'the body' and 'the mind' aren't separate or separable," Dosenbach added.