Chapter 2 - Basic Exercise Science Flashcards
What is the definition of the human movement system?
The combination and interrelation of the nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems. It includes functional anatomy, functional biomechanics, and motor behavior.
What are the three primary functions of the nervous system?
- Sensory Function
- Integrative Function
- Motor Function
What is the nervous system?
A conglomeration of billions of cells specifically designed to provide a communication network within the human body.
What is sensory function?
The ability of the nervous system to sense changes in either the internal or external environment.
Define integrative function.
The ability of the nervous system to analyze and interpret sensory information to allow for proper decision making, which produces the appropriate response.
What is motor function?
The neuromuscular response to the sensory information.
Define proprioception.
The cumulative sensory input to the central nervous system from all mechanoreceptors that sense body position and limb movement.
What is the cell body of a neuron / What does it contain?
The neuron cell body contains the nucleus and other organelles, including lysosomes, mitchondia, and a Golgi complex.
What is the primary function of dendrites in a neuron?
Dendrites gather information from other structures and transmit it back into the neuron.
What is the axon of a neuron?
- A cylindrical projection from the cell body that transmits nervous impulses to other neurons or effector sites (muscles, organs).
(Passes messages away from the cell body to the other neurons, muscles or glands.) - It is the part of the neuron that provides communication from the brain and spinal cord to other parts of the body.
What is a neuron?
A specialized cell that processes and transmits information through both electrical and chemical signals.
It is the functional unit of the nervous system and is divided into 3 main parts: the cell body, axon, and dendrites.
What are sensory (afferent) neurons?
Sensory neurons transmit nerve impulses from effector sites (such as muscles and organs) via receptors to the brain and spinal cord.
They respond to touch, sound, light, and other stimuli and transmit nerve impulses from effector sites.
What are interneurons?
Interneurons are neurons that transmit nerve impulses from one neutron to another.
What do motor (efferent) neurons do?
Motor neurons transmit nerve impulses from the brain and spinal cord to effector sites such as muscles or glands.
Example: brain tells hand muscles to let go of a hot coffee cup (after interpreted it was hot from sensory neurons and communicated through Interneurons).
What are the two main functions of peripheral nervous system and what is its main purpose?
- Providing a connection for the nervous system to activate different effector sites, such as muscles (motor function).
- Relaying information from effector sites back to the brain via sensory receptors (sensory function).
Overall peripheral nerves/nervous system provide a constant update on the relation between the body and the environment.
What is the peripheral nervous system (PNS)?
The PNS consists of 12 cranial nerves, 31 pairs of spinal nerves (which branch out from the brain and spinal cord), and sensory receptors that spread throughout the body.
What are the subdivisions of the PNS and what are their main functions?
- Somatic nervous system: nerves that serve the outer areas of the body and skeletal muscle, and are largely responsible for the voluntary control of movement.
- Autonomic nervous system: supplies neural input to the involuntary systems of the body (heart, digestive systems, and endocrine glands).
What are the subdivisions of the autonomic system and what are their functions?
- Sympathetic - increase levels of activation in preparation for activity
- Parasympathetic - decrease levels of activation during rest and recovery.
What are sensory receptors and what are the 4 subcategories they are divided into?
Sensory receptors are specialized structures located throughout the body that convert environmental stimuli (heat, light, sound, taste, and motion) into sensory information that the brain and spinal cord use to produce a response.
- mechanoreceptors (touch and pressure)
- nociceptors (pain receptors)
- chemoreceptors (chemical interaction / smell and taste)
- photo receptors (light / vision)
What are mechanoreceptors and where are they located?
Mechanoreceptors are sensory receptors responsible for sensing distortion in body tissues / respond to mechanical pressure and outside forces (touch, pressure, stretching, sound waves, and motion) within tissues and then transmit signals through sensory nerves.
They are located in muscles, tendons, ligaments, joint capsules, and include muscle spindles, Golgi tendon organs, and joint receptors.
What are muscle spindles and what do they help regulate?
Muscle spindles are receptors that run parallel to muscle fibers that are sensitive to change in length of the muscle and the rate of that change.
Muscle spindles help regulate the contraction of muscles via the stretch reflex mechanism (when stretching.
The spindle sends an impulse to the brain, the brain then sends info to contract muscle within 1 to 2 milliseconds to prevent overstretching and potential muscle damage.
What are Golgi tendon organs (GTOs), where are they located, and what is the reaction when they are activated?
GTOs are receptors sensitive to change in tension of the muscle and the rate of that change.
They are located where skeletal muscle fibers insert the tendons of skeletal muscle.
Activation of the Golgi tendon organ will cause the muscle to relax, which prevents the muscle from excessive stress or possibility of injury.
What are joint receptors, where are they located, what do they activate in order to prevent too much stress on a joint?
- Receptors surrounding a joint that respond to pressure, acceleration, and deceleration of the joint, and act to signal extreme joint positions in order to prevent injury.
- Located in and around the joint capsule.
- Can initiate a reflexive inhibitory response in the surrounding muscles if there is too much stress placed on that joint.
- Examples: Ruffini endings and Pacinian corpuscles
What is a kinetic chain and what is its primary purpose?
The kinetic chain is the linked system of nerves, muscles, and joints that work together to produce movements.
The kinetic chain integrates these systems to produce efficient movement.