The motor cortex is an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements.

• A. Premotor cortex.
• B. Primary somatosensory cortex.
• C. Motor cortex.
• D. Prefrontal cortex.

Answer: (C)

Voluntary movement is produced by the motor cortex, which sits toward the back of the frontal lobes just in front of the central sulcus. This region, especially the primary motor cortex in the precentral gyrus, contains neurons that initiate and control muscle contractions by sending signals down to the brainstem and spinal cord. It’s organized so that different parts of the cortex control different body parts—a motor homunculus reflects this mapping.

The premotor cortex lies just anterior to the primary motor cortex and mainly supports planning and preparing movements, using sensory information to organize action rather than directly triggering it. The primary somatosensory cortex, located in the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe, processes touch and proprioceptive feedback, which helps guide movement but doesn’t generate the motor commands. The prefrontal cortex handles higher-order things like planning, decision-making, and personality, not the direct execution of movements.

So the description points to the motor cortex—the network in the rear-frontal region responsible for issuing voluntary motor commands.