Chapter 1: Issues and Theories

Question 0

Why should therapists study motor control?

Answer 0

Because we retrain patients who have motor control problems producing functional movement disorders

Question 1

What is motor control?

Answer 1

The ability to regulate or direct the mechanisms essential to movement

Question 2

What are the three factors that interact to produce movement?

Answer 2

Task, individual, environment.

Question 3

What are the three factors within an individual that constrain movement?

Answer 3

Cognition, action, and perception

Question 4

What is the degree of freedom problem?

Answer 4

The problem of choosing amongst the multiple number of ways that an action can be carried out.

Question 5

What is perception when it comes to the individual?

Answer 5

The integration of sensory impressions into psychologically meaningful information. Includes:

(1) peripheral sensory mechanisms
(2) higher level processing that adds interpretations and meaning to incoming afferent information

Question 6

What is cognition when it comes to the individual?

Answer 6

A broad processes that include attention, planning, problem solving, motivation, and emotional aspects of motor control that underlie the establishment of intent or goals

Question 7

What are the three groupings of task constraints of movement?

Answer 7

Stability, mobility and manipulation

Question 8

What is a discrete task?

Answer 8

A task that has a recognizable beginning and end. Example: kicking a ball

Question 9

What is a continuous task?

Answer 9

A task that has a cyclical pattern (walking)

Question 10

What is a stability task?

Answer 10

A task that has a stationary base of support.

Question 11

What is a mobility task?

Answer 11

A task in which the base of support is in motion

Question 12

How do you define a manipulation task?

Answer 12

A task that increases the demand for stability beyond that demanded for the same task lacking the manipulation component.

Question 13

What is an open movement task?

Answer 13

A task that requires the performer to adapt their behavior within a constantly changing and often unpredictable environment

Question 14

What is a closed movement task?

Answer 14

Tasks that show little variation and are performed in a relatively fixed or predictable environment.

Question 15

How is environmental constraints on movement broken down? (Hint: only 2)

Answer 15

Regulatory versus non-regulatory

Question 16

What are regulatory features?

Answer 16

Aspects of the environment that shape movement (example: type of surface on which the task is performed)

Question 17

What are non-regulatory features?

Answer 17

Features of the environment that may affect performance but movement does not have to conform to these features (example: background noise)

Question 18

What is a theory of motor control?

Answer 18

A group of abstract ideas about the control of movement.

Question 19

What is reflex theory?

Answer 19

Sherrington- the foundation for theories of motor control- reflexes are the building blocks of complex behavior. (Many limitations)

Question 20

What are the five limitations to reflex theory?

Answer 20

(1) reflexes cannot be the basic unit of behavior because they must be activated by an outside agent
(2) does not explain/predict movement that occurs in the a sense of a sensory stimulus
(3) doesn’t explain fast movement
(4) doesn’t explain how a single stimulus can result in varying responses
(5) doesn’t explain the ability to produce novel movement

Question 21

What is the clinical implication for reflex theory?

Answer 21

Clinical strategies designed to yet reflexes should allow therapists to predict function

Question 22

What is hierarchical control?

Answer 22

Organizational control that is top down (successively higher level exerts control over the level below it)

Question 23

What are limitations to hierarchical theory?

Answer 23

Cannot explain the dominance of reflex behavior in certain situations in normal adults. (Example: withdrawal reflex)

Question 24

What are the clinical implications to hierarchical theory?

Answer 24

Used to explain disordered motor control in the patients with a neurological disorder.

Question 25

How does systems theory solve degrees of freedom?

Answer 25

Higher levels of the nervous system activate lower levels and lower levels activate synergies. Synergies solve the degree of freedom because it allows the NS to eliminate redundant degrees of freedom.

Question 26

What is the limitation of systems theory?

Answer 26

The presumption that the nervous system has a less important role in determining the animals behavior.

Question 27

What is ecological theory?

Answer 27

Our motor systems allow is to interact most effectively with the environment in order to perform goal-oriented behavior. The PERCEPTION of environmental factors is important to the task

Question 28

What are the limitations to ecological theory?

Answer 28

Give less emphasis to the organization and function of the nervous system and more emphasis on the environment

Question 29

What theories were the basis for neurofacilitation?

Answer 29

Neurofacilitation (Bobath) is drawn from both reflex and hierarchical theories.

Question 30

What is the clinical focus of neurofacilitation when retraining motor control?

Answer 30

Neurofacilitation approaches focused on retraining motor control through techniques designed to facilitate and/or inhibit deferent movement patterns

Question 31

What are some underlying assumptions of the neurofacilitation approach?

Answer 31

(1) the control of movement is top down and lesions of higher cortical levels result in abnormal reflexes from lower levels
(2) recovery of normal motor control cannot occur unless the CNS can regain control over lower centers

Question 32

What are the 2 key assumptions of the neurofacilitation approach?

Answer 32

(1) functional skills will automatically return to normal once abnormal movement patterns are inhibited and normal movement patterns are facilitated
(2) repetition of these normal movement patterns will automatically transfer to functional tasks

Question 33

What is the Task oriented approach to clinical intervention?

Answer 33

Normal movement emerges as an interaction among many different systems, each contributing different aspects of control. Movement is organized around a behavioral goal and is constrained by the environment

Question 34

What does compensation strategies have to do with the Task Oriented Approach?

Answer 34

Movements observed in patients with cortical lesions is not just the result of the lesion itself but also the efforts of remaining systems to compensate for the loss and still be functional. The compensation strategies are not always optimal.

Question 35

What is a clinical application to the Task oriented approach?

Answer 35

It is essential to work in identifiable functional tasks rather than on movement patterns for movements sake alone

Question 36

What is SPICPAE Johnny?

Answer 36

Sense
Perceive
Interpret 
Conceptualize
Plan
Activate 
Execute