The human motor system

The larynx is one set of muscles among many, and the human brain controls it in much the same way as it does your arms and legs.

All of thought and experience are for naught if they aren’t translated into behaviour, into physical movements of your body. The primary motor cortex (red) is the last port of call for behaviour and is the mechanism that your brain uses to drive voluntary movements. It is supported by a network of brain regions that each make a contribution to motor control. These include the middle cingulate sulcus (pink), supplementary motor area (blue), basal ganglia (yellow), and cerebellum (cyan), among others.

My research seeks to understand how this network controls movement, with particular interest in the voice, and ways in which it develops differently in humans compared to other primates. Understanding what makes the human brain special can teach us about how humans uniquely evolved the capacity to speak and sing.