How are visual areas of the brain connected to motor areas for the sensory guidance of movement?
Visual areas of the brain must be connected to motor areas for the sensory guidance of movement. The first step in the pathway from the primary visual cortex is by way of the dorsal stream of visual areas in the parietal lobe. The fact that monkeys can still guide their limbs visually after cortico-cortical fibres have been severed suggests that there are subcortical routes that link visual and motor areas of the brain. The pathway that runs from the pons and cerebellum is the largest of these. Pontine cells that receive inputs from visual cortical areas or the superior colliculus respond vigorously to appropriate visual stimuli and project widely on the cerebellar cortex. A challenge for future research is to elucidate the role of these cerebellar target areas in visuo-motor control.