Consisting of frontal lobe cortical regions located anterior to the primary motor cortex and about six times larger, and ventrally and laterally to the supplementary motor area, it serves a number of functions such as the initiation of movements controlled by vision and touch, and is involved in postural control as well. The recipient of converging auditory, somatosensory and visual inputs via the parietal cortex (and the cerebellum), its neurons fire in advance of a movement and are modified during the course of learning a motor task. When the premotor cortex is damaged, there are deficits in the performance of cue-guided tasks (e.g., following the direction of movement of a visual stimulus). Together the premotor cortex and the supplementary motor area form the premotor cortices.
See Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Basal ganglia (anatomy), Cerebellum (anatomy), Cerebellum and basal ganglia, Inner speech, Motor cortex, Parietal cortex, Postural control, Primary motor cortex, Supplementary motor area (SMA)