5-Min Science: The SCAN Links Thoughts and Actions

The Dosenbach Laboratory at Washington University discovered the Somato-Cognitive Action Network (SCAN), which is central in integrating movement with higher cognitive functions.

Ever notice how mind and body states interact. How thinking about a future action, can make your heart race, even though you’re just sitting in a chair. How trying to solve a problem can make you pace back and forth. -- Nico Dosenbach on X.

The Somato-Cognitive Action Network (SCAN)

Gordon and colleagues (2023), using precision fMRI from seven participants and fMRI datasets from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, Human Connectome Project, and UK Biobank from 50,000 individuals, found three interconnected primary motor cortex (M1) regions that participate in the integrated movement of multiple body parts.

The somato-cognitive action network (SCAN) consists of M1, the SMA, centromedian nucleus (CM) and ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) of the thalamus, posterior putamen, and vermis and the flocculonodular lobe of the cerebellum, which mediate posture and balance. Connectivity analysis revealed that the SCAN communicates with the cingulo-opercular network (CON) or salience network, which mediates cognitive control and maintains task focus over extended periods. Redrawn SCAN graphic from Nico Dosenbach on X.

The SCAN lies between classic motor regions in the primary motor cortex (M1). Cortex graphic © Vasilisa Tsoy/shutterstock.com.

M1's two interlacing systems establish a pattern of integration and isolation: regions specific to effectors, such as the foot, hand, and mouth, are responsible for isolating fine motor control, while the SCAN integrates goals, body movement, and physiology.

The apparent relative expansion of SCAN regions in humans could suggest a role in complex actions specific to humans, such as coordinating breathing for speech, and integrating hand, body and eye movement for tool use. A common factor across this wide range of processes is that they must be integrated if an organism is to achieve its goals through movement while avoiding injury and maintaining physiological allostasis.

The SCAN provides a substrate for this integration, enabling pre-action anticipatory postural, breathing, cardiovascular and arousal changes (such as shoulder tension, increased heart rate or ‘butterflies in the stomach’). The finding that action and body control are melded in a common circuit could help explain why mind and body states so often interact (Gordon et al., 2023).

Mesa (2023) placed these findings in context:

The dominant paradigm states that the motor cortex is simplistic. Planning, cognition, and conscious initiation of movements happen elsewhere in the brain; the motor cortex just receives these signals, relaying them directly to muscles.

In concert with the salience network, which prioritizes behaviorally relevant stimuli, the SCAN is responsible for complex adaptations (e.g., allostasis). These findings are consistent with primate studies showing that more M1 neurons are responsible for movements independent of the muscles used than for the contraction of specific muscles (Griffin et al., 2015; Kaufman et al., 2014). Together, these findings challenge the 1870 cortical homunculus model, a distorted human figure with the size of body parts reflecting the amount of cortical area dedicated to them. Graphic by Mpj29. Mpj29, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The SCAN's Interconnections

These interspersed nodes are strongly connected to several high-level cortical areas, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for working memory and executive function; the anterior cingulate cortex, known for its role in attention and error monitoring; and the inferior parietal lobule, which integrates sensory and motor information.

Additionally, the SCAN is connected to motor planning regions such as the supplementary motor area and the premotor cortex. These connections enable the SCAN to coordinate motor outputs with cognitive inputs, allowing humans to engage in flexible, goal-directed behavior.

The SCAN is an Interface Between Thought and Action

Functional imaging studies have shown that the SCAN becomes active not only during physical actions involving multiple body parts but also during purely mental tasks that involve imagining movement or making decisions based on internal goals. This suggests that the SCAN is a critical interface between thought and action, allowing the brain to translate intentions into coordinated behavior. Its discovery has broad implications for understanding how the brain orchestrates complex actions requiring mental engagement and physical execution.

The SCAN's Clinical Relevance

The SCAN has been implicated in dystonia and Parkinson's disease.

Dystonia

Wang et al. (2025) investigated the SCAN's role in focal dystonias affecting the larynx and hand. The researchers found that the SCAN showed altered functional connectivity in individuals with both types of dystonia, suggesting that SCAN dysfunction may be a central pathology shared across different focal dystonia subtypes, beyond the specific body part affected. Specifically, the SCAN showed higher connectivity to task-derived mouth/larynx regions and lower connectivity to the cingulo-opercular network (CON).

Parkinson's Disease

Ren et al. (2023) investigated the SCAN's involvement in Parkinson's disease (PD). The findings revealed functional abnormalities within the SCAN in PD patients and indicated that SCAN is selectively involved in various neuromodulatory targets used for PD treatment. Furthermore, the study suggested a link between changes in SCAN connectivity and the alleviation of motor symptoms following invasive and non-invasive neuromodulation. This highlights the potential importance of the SCAN in the pathophysiology and treatment of PD. [We caution our readers that this report is a preprint that was not peer-reviewed or published.]

The SCAN's Relevance for Self-Regulation

The relevance of SCAN lies in its hybrid nature—it links cognitive intention with motor execution. Training the SCAN network could yield more synchronized improvements across both domains for individuals undergoing biofeedback or neurofeedback to improve performance in tasks that require concentration and coordinated action, such as athletes, musicians, or individuals in rehabilitation.

Because SCAN regions are activated during physical movement and mental simulation of movement, they offer an ideal substrate for motor imagery-based neurofeedback protocols. These protocols, which train users to visualize movements rather than perform them, could more effectively engage the SCAN than traditional motor cortex training alone.

Moreover, the SCAN’s strong connectivity with areas responsible for executive functions suggests it may serve as a conduit for enhancing self-regulation, decision-making, and goal-setting—all crucial components of effective biofeedback and neurofeedback. This makes the SCAN especially valuable in therapeutic contexts, such as in the treatment of ADHD, anxiety, or post-stroke motor recovery, where the interplay between thought and movement is often disrupted. By targeting the SCAN, neurofeedback could support more integrated improvements in emotional regulation, focus, and motor control.

Additionally, the SCAN’s involvement in internally generated actions makes it a promising focus for mindfulness and meditation-based neurofeedback. Since these practices engage the brain in non-reactive, internally directed attention—often involving awareness of bodily states—training SCAN could enhance the mind-body coherence central to such approaches. In this way, the SCAN deepens our understanding of how cognitive and motor processes are linked in the brain and opens new avenues for optimizing neurofeedback protocols to support a more embodied and goal-oriented self-regulation.

Conclusion

The somato-cognitive action network (SCAN) is a recently identified system within the primary motor cortex that integrates cognitive intention with physical action. Comprising interleaved M1 regions and connected structures such as the supplementary motor area, thalamic nuclei, basal ganglia, and cerebellum, SCAN enables anticipatory adjustments in posture, breathing, cardiovascular activity, and arousal. These functions support allostasis and explain common mind-body interactions, such as increased heart rate before action. SCAN's activity during both physical movement and motor imagery highlights its role as a neural interface between thought and action.

SCAN’s strong connectivity with executive and salience networks suggests it underlies complex, goal-directed behavior and self-regulation. This makes it a promising target for neurofeedback protocols aimed at enhancing performance, emotional regulation, and motor control in both healthy individuals and clinical populations. By uniting cognitive and motor processes, SCAN challenges traditional models of motor cortex function and provides a foundation for more integrated therapeutic and performance-based interventions.

Key Takeaways

The SCAN integrates cognition and movement: The somato-cognitive action network (SCAN) links the primary motor cortex with subcortical and cerebellar regions to coordinate mental intentions with physical actions.
The SCAN supports anticipatory regulation: It enables pre-action adjustments in posture, breathing, arousal, and cardiovascular activity, contributing to physiological allostasis.
The SCAN challenges traditional motor models: Contrary to the classical view, SCAN demonstrates that motor cortex function extends beyond simple muscle activation to include goal-directed integration.
The SCAN underlies self-regulatory practices: Its activation during real and imagined movements makes it a promising target for neurofeedback, especially in performance and therapeutic settings.
The SCAN links to high-order brain networks: Through strong connections with executive and salience networks, SCAN mediates adaptive behavior, attention, and decision-making.

Glossary

Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD): a large-scale longitudinal neuroimaging study of child development used for precision fMRI data analysis.

allostasis: the process by which the body achieves stability through physiological or behavioral change, especially in anticipation of future demands.

anterior cingulate cortex (ACC): a cortical region involved in attention, conflict monitoring, and error detection.

biofeedback: a technique that trains individuals to regulate physiological processes by providing real-time feedback on biological signals.

cingulo-opercular network (CON): also known as the salience network, it supports sustained attention and cognitive control during goal-directed tasks.

cognitive control: the capacity to maintain focus, switch tasks, and regulate behavior according to goals.

centromedian nucleus (CM): a thalamic nucleus involved in sensorimotor integration and part of the SCAN network.

dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC): a prefrontal cortex region essential for working memory and executive function.

dystonia: a movement disorder marked by sustained or intermittent muscle contractions that cause abnormal, often repetitive, movements or postures. These movements are typically patterned, twisting, and may be tremulous. Dystonia can be focal, segmental, or generalized, and may occur as a primary disorder or secondary to neurological disease, including Parkinson’s.

executive function: high-level cognitive processes including planning, decision-making, and inhibitory control.

flocculonodular lobe: a cerebellar region involved in balance and vestibular processing, included in SCAN.

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI): a neuroimaging method that detects brain activity by measuring blood flow changes.

goal-directed behavior: actions taken intentionally to achieve specific objectives, involving cognitive and motor coordination.

Human Connectome Project: a large-scale neuroimaging initiative mapping human brain connectivity.

inferior parietal lobule (IPL): a brain region integrating sensory input with motor plans, supporting action understanding and execution.

internal goals: self-generated objectives or intentions that guide decision-making and behavior.

motor imagery: the mental simulation of movement without physical execution, used in neurofeedback.

neurofeedback: a form of biofeedback using real-time displays of brain activity to train self-regulation of neural processes.

Parkinson's disease (PD): a progressive neurodegenerative disorder primarily affecting the dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra in the basal ganglia. It is characterized by motor symptoms such as bradykinesia, resting tremor, rigidity, and postural instability, along with non-motor symptoms including cognitive decline, mood disorders, and autonomic dysfunction

posterior putamen: part of the basal ganglia involved in motor planning and execution, included in SCAN.

premotor cortex: a region involved in planning movements and coordinating them with sensory input.

primary motor cortex (M1): primary cortical area responsible for initiating voluntary movement, also involved in higher-order integration via SCAN.

salience network: a neural network that identifies behaviorally relevant stimuli and maintains task focus, overlapping with the CON.

self-regulation: the ability to modulate cognitive, emotional, and physiological states to achieve goals.

somato-cognitive action network (SCAN): a newly identified brain network integrating motor, cognitive, and physiological functions, including M1, SMA, CM, VIM, posterior putamen, vermis, and flocculonodular lobe.

supplementary motor area (SMA): a medial frontal region implicated in planning and coordinating complex movements, including imagined movements.

task focus: sustained attention to a goal-directed activity, maintained by networks like CON and SCAN.

thalamus: a subcortical structure that relays motor and sensory signals; its nuclei CM and VIM contribute to SCAN.

UK Biobank: a biomedical database containing health and neuroimaging data from hundreds of thousands of participants.

ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM): a thalamic nucleus involved in motor coordination, forming part of SCAN.

vermis: the midline region of the cerebellum, important for posture and balance, and a component of SCAN.

working memory: the capacity to hold and manipulate information over short periods, supported by the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

References

Gordon, E. M., Chauvin, R. J., Van, A. N., Rajesh, A., Nielsen, A., Newbold, D. J., Lynch, C. J., Seider, N. A., Krimmel, S. R., Scheidter, K. M., Monk, J., Miller, R. L., Metoki, A., Montez, D. F., Zheng, A., Elbau, I., Madison, T., Nishino, T., Myers, M. J., Kaplan, S., … Dosenbach, N. U. F. (2023). A somato-cognitive action network alternates with effector regions in motor cortex. Nature, 617(7960), 351–359. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05964-2

Griffin, D. M., Hoffman, D. S., & Strick, P. L. (2015). Corticomotoneuronal cells are "functionally tuned." Science, 350(6261), 667–670. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa8035

Kaufman, M. T., Churchland, M. M., Ryu, S. I., & Shenoy, K. V. (2014). Cortical activity in the null space: Permitting preparation without movement. Nature Neuroscience, 17(3), 440–448. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3643

Mesa, N. (2023). New brain network connecting mind and body discovered. Retrieved from The Scientist.

Ren, J., Zhang, W., Dahmani, L., Hu, Q., Jiang, C., Bai, Y., Ji, G.-J., Zhou, Y., Zhang, P., Wang, W., Wang, K., Wang, M., Li, L., Wang, D., & Liu, H. (2023). The somato-cognitive action network links diverse neuromodulatory targets for Parkinson's disease. bioRxiv, 2023.12.12.571023. [Preprint, not peer-reviewed].

Wang, Y., Huynh, B., Ren, J., Chen, M., Zhang, W., Hu, D., Li, S., Liu, H., & Kimberley, T. J. (2025). Somato-cognitive action network in laryngeal and focal hand dystonia sensorimotor dysfunction. medRxiv: The preprint server for health sciences, 2025.02.21.25322612. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.21.25322612