Action Flashcards
electrical stimulation of this cortical area causes, at low current levels, an intention to perform a particular action and, at high levels, the feeling that the action has been performed
posterior parietal cortex
damage to this cortical area produces deficits in the perception of spatial relationships, in accurate reaching, in the control of eye movement, and in attention
posterior parietal cortex
cortical area that integrates sensory stimuli used to guide motor sequences and is more active when attending more to the stimuli, such as when learning a new motor sequence
posterior parietal cortex
cortical area that receives projections from the posterior parietal cortex and sends projections to motor areas of the cortex as well as back to the posterior parietal cortex
prefrontal cortex
cortical area that plays a role in the evaluation of external stimuli and the initiation of voluntary reactions to them
prefrontal cortex
cortical area that makes decisions to initiate voluntary movements, but with these decisions depending on critical interactions with the posterior parietal cortex
prefrontal cortex
cortical area that is activated when a new motor sequence is being learned and performed under conscious control, but not at all when performing a well-practiced sequence
prefrontal cortex
cortical area that contains neurons which begin to fire in anticipation of a motor activity, before neurons in other cortical motor areas fire, and which continue to fire until the response is complete
prefrontal cortex
cortical area that receives much of its input from association cortex and sends much of its output to the primary motor cortex
secondary motor cortex
cortical area that is located in parts of the frontal lobe just anterior to the primary motor cortex, such as the supplementary motor area and the premotor cortex
secondary motor cortex
electrical stimulation of this cortical area typically elicits complex movements, often involving both sides of the body
secondary motor cortex
cortical area that contains neurons which often become more active just prior to the initiation of a voluntary movement, although not necessarily the earliest ones to fire, and which continue to be active throughout the movement
secondary motor cortex
cortical area thought to be involved in the programming of specific patterns of movements after taking general instructions from the prefrontal cortex
secondary motor cortex
cortical area that shows increased levels of activity while a subject is either imagining his or her own performance of a particular series of movements or while planning the performance of the same movements
secondary motor cortex
cortical area that contains neurons whose firing is most closely related to the end point (target) of a movement and not to the direction of the movement
primary motor cortex
cortical area that might contain a particular site which, if stimulated, would cause the left elbow to bend to a 90 degree angle, such that opposite responses would be elicited if the arm was initially straight (180 degree angle) compared to if the arm was initially bent halfway (45 degree angle)
primary motor cortex
cortical area whose recorded activity has been used to move a robotic arm and may one day be used to control the prosthetic limbs of injured people
primary motor cortex
cortical area that can be metaphorically compared to a company’s director of operations, who forwards commands from the executives to the office managers (the spinal sensorimotor circuits) that in turn direct the activities of the workers (the muscles)
primary motor cortex
sensorimotor structure that compares input from (1) the primary and secondary motor cortex, (2) descending motor signals from brainstem motor nuclei, and (3) motor responses via the somatosensory and vestibular systems, and that corrects ongoing movements which deviate from their intended course
cerebellum
sensorimotor structure that is believed to play a major role in motor learning, particularly in the learning of sequences of movements in which timing is a critical factor
cerebellum
sensorimotor structure that contains neural loops which receive cortical input from various cortical areas and transmits it back to the cortex via the thalamus
basal ganglia
sensorimotor structure that contains neural loops which mainly carry signals to and from the motor areas of the cortex
basal ganglia
sensorimotor structure that has been shown to participate in habit learning, a type of motor learning that is usually acquired gradually, trial by trial
basal ganglia
sensorimotor structure that, in addition to playing a role in the modulation of motor output, also has connections to cortical areas known to have cognitive functions (e.g., prefrontal lobes)
basal ganglia
type of cell that is active when an individual performs a particular goal-directed hand movement or when she observes the same movement performed by another
mirror neuron
provides a possible neural mechanism for social cognition: knowledge of the perceptions, ideas, and intentions of others
mirror neuron
phenomenon that is a disorder of voluntary movement that is not attributable to a simple motor deficit or to any deficit in comprehension or motivation
apraxia
phenomenon that causes patients to have difficulty making specific movements when they are requested out of context, but not under natural conditions when they are not thinking about it
apraxia
phenomenon that is occuring when a carpenter who can normally hammer a nail is unable to demonstrate hammering movements in the absence of a hammer
apraxia
phenomenon that results from damage to the left posterior parietal lobe or its connections
apraxia
is a disorder of tics: involuntary, repetitive, stereotyped movements or vocalizations
tourette syndrome
is disorder that may consist of simple motor tics, such as eye blinking or head movements, complex motor tics, such as hitting, touching objects, squatting, hopping, twirling, or making lewd gestures, and complex verbal tics, such as barking, coughing, grunting, uttering obscenities, or repetition of one’s own words
Tourette syndrome
is a disorder of involuntary tics, associated with neuropathology of the caudate nuclei, that can be temporarily suppressed with concentration and effort by the patient, presumably by the prefrontal cortex acting on the caudate nuclei
Tourette Syndrome
is a disorder of tics that is usually treated with dopamine antagonists, consistent with the hypothesis that the disorder is related to an abnormality of the basal ganglia-thalamus-cortex feedback circuit, especially of the striatum (caudate plus putamen) which is the target of many of the dopaminergic projections into the basal ganglia
Tourette syndrome
sensorimotor learning phenomenon that is the combination of central sensorimotor programs that control individual responses into programs that control sequences of responses, through practice
response chunking
kind of sensorimotor learning process that allows a novice typist, in whom each response necessary to type a word is individually triggered and controlled, to become a skilled typist, in whom sequences of letters are activated as a unit, thus allowing a marked increase in speed and continuity
response chunking
kind of sensorimotor learning process that would include the combination of the responses needed to type the individual letters and digits of your address into longer sequences necessary to produce the individual words and numbers, and that would also include the combination of these words and numbers so that the entire address could be typed as a unit
response chunking
kind of sensorimotor learning process that allows the freeing up of higher levels of the sensorimotor system to deal with more esoteric aspects of performance
shifting control to lower levels
kind of sensorimotor learning process that allows a skilled pianist to concentrate on interpreting a piece of music because she does not have to consciously focus on pressing the right keys
shifting control to lower levels
kind of sensorimotor learning process that permits great speed because different circuits at the lower levels of the sensorimotor hierarchy can act simultaneously, without interfering with one another
shifting control to lower levels
kind of sensorimotor learning process that makes it possible to type 120 words per minute because the circuits responsible for activating each individual key press can become active before the preceding response has been completed
shifting control to lower levels
Goal-directed movements which are performed rapidly (typically within less than a second) and with the coordinates for action computed in real time
automatic actions
Type of movements that make corrections based on sensory-feedback during mid-motion
automatic actions
Type of movements that use coordinates for a particular action which are not stored in memory
automatic actions
Type of movements that can occur without conscious awareness of the actions even if they are for attaining a conscious goal, although we often assume that our actions are based on the same processes that allow us to consciously perceive that goal
automatic actions
Type of movements that optic ataxic patients have difficulty with but not apraxic patients
automatic actions
Goal-directed movements which are performed slowly and consciously controlled
controlled actions
Type of movements that use representations to guide them which can have long life spans
controlled actions
Type of movements that can rely on memory for their sensory-based corrections
controlled actions
Type of movements that apraxic patients have difficulty with but not optic ataxic patients
controlled actions
Type of movements that tend to be less accurate
Controlled actions
