Ch 12: How do motor control and action work

Question 1

Motor skills are important to a neuropsychologist because

Answer 1

1. refined motor skills are indispensable for examinations and motor impairments can negatively influence test performance
2. motor impairments often occur after brain injury
3. motor control is a cognitive process

Question 2

Forward models (movement)

Answer 2

consequences of an action are predicted by an internal model within the motor system –> e.g. how quickly you must perform the movement

Question 3

What is motor planning?

Answer 3

cognitive motor plans are prepared prior to movements
end-state comfort principle: the purpose of the movement is first determined and subsequently the movement towards this purpose

Question 4

Motor imagery

Answer 4

the imagined movement are the same as the underlying motor representations of the movements
Fitt’s law: takes longer to point to a small circle than to a large circle

Question 5

Cerebral paresis

Answer 5

many problems in everyday motor skills
damage in prenatal, perinatal or in first year of life
spastic, dyskinetic (constant movements due to continuous changes in muscle tension), ataxic (irregular movement)

Question 6

Apraxia

Answer 6

inability to carry out purposeful behaviour in the absence of a paralysis or paresis
problems executing movements on command, imitating movements, using tools, making gestures, planning and implementing various movement sequences

Question 7

Ideomotor apraxia

Answer 7

patient cannot execute movements based on instruction or imitation

Question 8

ideational apraxia

Answer 8

patient cannot execute movement sequences

Question 9

Optic ataxia

Answer 9

inability to make saccade based on verbal instructions

injury in the visual dorsal route

Question 10

Alien hand syndrome

Answer 10

feel as if someone else is in control of their hand movements
selective damage to corpus callosum –> left hand