Q. Define Primary and Somatic Sensory Area?
Primary Sensory Area - Located in postcentral gyrus in parietal lobes (just posterior to central sulcus). Neurons here receive information relayed from somatic sensory cells (ex. skin receptors, etc.) The amount of cortex devoted to a specific body part is proportional to its sensitivity (lips and tongue have more sensory cortex than other less sensitive body parts).
Somatic Sensory Area (or Somatosensory Area) - Posterior to postcentral gyrus in parietal lobe. The somatosensory area interprets sensory inputs (ex. allows to distinguish a baseball in hand from having a tennis ball).