A brief account has been given of the events during the last quarter of the nineteenth century which led to the concept of the sensorimotor cortex. An early review by Frederick Mott has served as a useful guide. Particular attention has been paid to two early startlingly prescient papers by W. Bechterew. Since, however, Bechterew changed his views in subsequent publications, he forfeited a major claim for priority, and his early papers were forgotten.