A large premotor area located in the medial prefrontal region of each hemisphere and just in front to the primary motor cortex in primates that represents contralateral body movements and contralateral sensory receptors in a somatotopic pattern. Receiving input from the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia, it is involved in the initiation of movements and in the temporal sequencing of multiple (i.e., complex) movements. As with the premotor cortex, it is activated during the learning of new responses, but unlike the premotor cortex it ceases once the responses have become automatized. PET and fMRI studies have revealed that mentally rehearsing movements activates the SMA. When damaged, there is a deficit in carrying out learned gestures in the absence of sensory guidance.
See Basal ganglia, Functional Inner speech, Motor inhibition, Primary motor cortex, PET, Prefrontal cortex (PFC), Premotor cortex, Primary motor cortex