Talk:Cortical homunculus

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Uncensored[edit]

Why isn't this image linked here? http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Homunculus.jpg And why isn't there an uncircumcised equivalent, and a female equivalent? 207.237.85.36 (talk) 05:48, 28 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

You know why: Because we’re still in the dark ages where the organized schizophrenic child rapists, of all people, rule what’s “real” and what’s harming children, and what isn’t, and who’s superior. — 2A0A:A546:9F40:1:6B38:5554:9062:684D (talk) 09:22, 7 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

3D homunculus?[edit]

Could we have a rendering of a 3D homunculus, as featured very prominently in the relevant Google Images search?

This would be really nice, but the old pictures were sufficient. Right now, any picture is better than no picture. At least add the homunculus picture and add a caption stating that it historical rather than scientific. Adamlankford (talk) 00:53, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Homunculus wrong[edit]

File:Homunculus.png

Homunculus: diagram showing position of regions of the human cortex corresponding to the respective afferent/efferent nerve region of the body. Blue: sensor cortex. Red: motor cortex.

As recent discoveries found out the humunculus map is wrong. The genitals actually belong to the place where they fit best. ( Why should there be relation to the toes??)

Please reference your source. Adamlankford (talk) 00:53, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Can't they at least draw a fig leaf somewhere on the sensory homunculus rather than pretending that those areas of the body are completely numb and/or don't exist? Such a highly sensitive part of the body would look grotesque if accurately represented. 174.25.117.36 (talk) 00:35, 12 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I did find a sensory homunculus that actually labels the location of the genitals past the toes, depicted very tiny.[1] Another anon put it better at File_talk:Sensory_Homunculus.png: "Where are the genitals, male and female, so richly innervated?" In the motor cortex there may be little more to represent than the pubococcygeus muscles, (e.g. Kegel exercises,) but it seems to me that the genitals would be prominently represented in the sensory cortex. The nipples are likewise richly innervated in both sexes, but they do not appear anywhere on the sensory homunculus. I don't like what I'm seeing here, which seems to be, in effect, a distortion and concealment of facts rather than a metaphorical fig leaf. However, it makes sense that the genitals would be past the toes, because the fibers that form the sciatic nerve generally depart from the spinal cord proximal to the nerves servicing the genitalia. 174.25.117.36 (talk) 01:04, 14 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Restored Content[edit]

I've restored the content of this article; it had been removed, rendering the article useless.

Removed Table[edit]

I removed the table below from the article. There is no context provided, and it's almost entirely devoid of content! If its author can articulate its purpose, please do so. PatrickFisher 08:22, 21 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Motor Activity	Sensory Activity
Toes	Toes
Ankle	Ankle
Leg	Leg
Knee	Knee
Hip	Hip
Trunk	Trunk
Shoulder	Shoulder
Elbow	Elbow
Wrist	Wrist
Fingers	Fingers
Thumb	Thumb
Neck	Neck
Brow	Brow
Eyelid	Eyelid
Nose	Nose
Lips	Lips
Tongue	Tongue
Larynx	Jaw

This probably refers to anatomical locations on the brain referring to sensory and motor areas for these parts of the body. Without an actual picture though, it wouldn't make much sense. Afalbrig 10:57, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Link to new-age hippy website[edit]

This is an interesting topic. However, the external link at the bottom of the article links to a deeply hippy new-age website that uses the homunculus image to support some sort of cosmic spiritual energy theory. While such theories have their place, could we also have a link to a more scientific source please?

What place does schizophrenia have? … A psychiatry? ^^ … Or in the past: A church/temple? ^^ … No, outside of entertainment, harmful mental illnesses do not have a place. — 2A0A:A546:9F40:1:6B38:5554:9062:684D (talk) 09:25, 7 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Functional role of the cortical homunculi[edit]

In contemporary brain science, the brain is conceived to be a spatial object, instantaneously extended in space. The cortical homunculi are likewise considered to be bounded-area patches of spatial extent. Because of this, there is no significant role for the homunculi in the explanation of mind-brain interaction, and neither is there any imminent prospect of formulating the "executive function" of the brain. Recent formal discoveries in physics indicate that space-time and matter are reducible to time sequence patterns alone, with the quantum of action defined as a discrete step of time sequence. (See [[2]]) Thus, spatial relations are excluded from physics, and the brain as physical object must be conceived differently, as a purely sequential structure. The cortical homunculi then have a natural interpretation as staging regions for perception and control of the body by the human series of mental events, acting as the executive function of the brain.

  The psycho-physical correlations hold between the various experienced phenomenal fields of the subject and the various cortical projection areas on the cortex.  The two sides of the correlation should not be confused.  A human mental percept has its immediate causal predecessors provided by the sensory homunculi.  A conscious human action has its immediate causal successors at the motor homunculus.  That is the sequential positioning that pinpoints the causal location of human mental events in the brain.  The human series of moments transpires at a rate of 10 per second, appropriate to the cycle-time for feedback and control of the body, given the propagation delays of the neural pathways to and from the muscles and receptors.
  The functional role of the homunculi is a refinement of Bertrand Russell's account of mind-brain interaction, as given in Human Knowledge.  A careful account is published in Mind that Abides, chapter 12, "Finite eventism." (Benjamin's Publishing, 2009.)  An early draft is online at my blog site, [[3]].  Scroll to the section, "Putting the Homunculi to Work."  -- Carey R. Carlson 184.97.201.236 (talk) 18:25, 19 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Other animals[edit]

This article only describes representations of the human body. I've seen 2D representations for animals like raccoons. I saw a drawing that showed that while moles have larger cortical proportions for their forelimbs/hands/paws like humans, the star-nosed mole has huge relative proportions for its snout. Cornea Scratcher (talk) 20:24, 13 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Nice! Thanks for letting us know about those. If you ever come across them again, please let us know where. --Dan Harkless (talk) 08:52, 4 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Male[edit]

Regarding this, this and this, I stated, "Probably should discuss the male/female aspect on the talk page. If reliable sources are taking note of the matter, it is worth considering if we should as well. Clearly, images of cortical homunculus have male anatomy. And part of the etymology equates to 'little man.' And the lead currently states, 'A cortical homunculus, or 'cortex man'."

That stated, I'm not invested in this topic. I simply brought it to the talk page in case anyone wants to discuss it. Flyer22 Frozen (talk) 04:41, 8 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Female homunculus[edit]

In a 2021 article by Haven Wright and Preston Foerder published in the peer-reviewed journal Leonardo entitled "The Missing Female Homunculus", linked on the wikipedia page, there is a female homunculus. Why isn't it added to the page? NiMareQ (talk) 04:38, 21 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I’d rather have a mid-side couple of homunculi than a stereo couple. As in: A human homunculus, and the male/female sexual differences placed right and left of it, or on a computer, togglable as overlays. This would also allow for people with rarer genetic combinations (as in: some of both organs / body layouts). But of course it would piss of the sexists du jour. ^^ — 2A0A:A546:9F40:1:6B38:5554:9062:684D (talk) 09:29, 7 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

EL[edit]

Will the following link be accepted: Brain Homunculus or “little man”? תיל"ם (talk) 16:00, 3 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]