Accurate assessment of the location of the sensorimotor cortex is important in presurgical investigation of and planning for patients with lesions impinging on this region. In this review, the relationship between the assessment of sensorimotor cortex by invasive electrophysiological mapping and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is discussed. A number of areas are covered: (a) brief backgrounds of MRI and fMRI are provided, (b) existing fMRI literature of sensorimotor cortex activation is surveyed, (c) results of fMRI sensorimotor studies and intracranial somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) recordings and cortical stimulation in neurosurgical patients are compared, and (d) the locus of fMRI activation is discussed in the light of cortical generators of SEP components.