Chapter Eleven: Motor Systems Terms

Question 1

Define:

Action Map

Answer 1

Representation of the body performing actions in the sensory or motor cortex; also, any topographical representation of the body in action by a neural area.

Question 2

Define:

Anterior Spinothalamic Tract

Answer 2

The pathway from the spinal cord to the thalamus that carries information about pain and temperature toward the brain.

Question 3

Define:

Apraxia

Answer 3

The inability to make voluntary movements in the absence of paralysis or other motor or sensory impairment, especially an inability to make proper use of an object.

Question 4

Define:

Body Map

Answer 4

The representation of the human body in the sensory or motor cortex; also topographical representation of the body by a neural area.

Question 5

Define:

Cerebral Palsy [CP]

Answer 5

A group of disorders that result from brain damage acquired perinatally [at or near birth].

Question 6

Define:

Constraint-Induced Therapy

Answer 6

A procedure in which restraint of a healthy limb forces a person to use an impaired limb to enhance recovery of function.

Question 7

Define:

Corticobulbar Tract

Answer 7

A bundle of nerve fibers that directly connects the cerebral cortex to the brainstem nuclei that control facial muscles.

Question 8

Define:

Corticospinal Tract

Answer 8

A bundle of nerve fibers that directly connects the cerebral cortex to the spinal cord; it branches at the cerebral cortex into an opposite-side lateral tract, which informs movement of limbs and digits, and a same-side anterior tract, which informs movement of the trunk; also called pyramidal tract.

Question 9

Define:

Deafferation

Answer 9

The loss of incoming sensory input, usually due to damage to sensory fibers; also loss of any afferent input to a structure.

Question 10

Define:

Glabrous Skin

Answer 10

Skin that does not have hair follicles but contains larger numbers of sensory receptors that do hairy skin areas.

Question 11

Define:

Hapsis

Answer 11

The perceptual ability to discriminate objects on the basis of touch.

Question 12

Define:

Hyperkinetic Symptom

Answer 12

An excessive involuntary movement, as seen in Tourette syndrome.

Question 13

Define:

Hypokinetic Symptom

Answer 13

A paucity of movement, as seen in Parkinson disease.

Question 14

Define:

Ménièr Disease

Answer 14

A disorder of the middle ear resulting in vertigo and loss of balance.

Question 15

Define:

Monosynaptic Reflex

Answer 15

A reflex requiring one synapse between sensory input and movement.

Question 16

Define:

Motor Sequence

Answer 16

Movement modules preprogrammed by the brain and produced as a unit.

Question 17

Define:

Neuroprosthetics

Answer 17

The field that develops computer-assisted devices to replace lost biological function.

Question 18

Define:

Nociception

Answer 18

The perception of pain, temperature, and itch.

Question 19

Define:

Pain Gate

Answer 19

A hypothetical neural circuit ini which activity in fine-touch and pressure pathways diminishes the activity in pain and temperature pathways.

Question 20

Define:

Paraplegia

Answer 20

Paralysis of the legs due to spinal cord injury.

Question 21

Define:

Periaqueductal Gray Matter [PAG]

Answer 21

Nuclei in the midbrain that surround the cerebral aqueduct joining the third and fourth ventricles; PAG neurons contain circuits for species-typical behaviors [eg. female sexual behavior] and play an important role in the modulation of pain.

Question 22

Define:

Position-Point Theory

Answer 22

The idea that the motor cortex functions to move a body part to a point in space.

Question 23

Define:

Posterior Spinothalamic Tract

Answer 23

The pathway in the posterior segment of the spinal cord that contains fine-touch and pressure sensory fibers.

Question 24

Define:

Proprioception

Answer 24

The perception of the position and movement of the body, limbs, and head.

Question 25

Define:

Quadriplegia

Answer 25

Paralysis of the legs and arms due to spinal cord injury; also referred to as tetraplegia.

Question 26

Define:

Rapidly Adapting Receptor

Answer 26

A body sensory receptor that responds briefly to the onset of a stimulus on the body.

Question 27

Define:

Referred Pain

Answer 27

Pain that arises in one of the internal organs but is felt on the surface of the body.

Question 28

Define:

Scratch Reflex

Answer 28

An automatic response in which an animal’s hind limb reaches to remove a stimulus from the surface of its body.

Question 29

Define:

Slowly Adapting Receptor

Answer 29

A body sensory receptor that responds as long as sensory stimulus is on the body.

Question 30

Define:

Topographic Organization

Answer 30

Neural spatial representation of the body or areas of the sensory world perceived by a sensory organ.

Question 31

Define:

Ventrolateral Thalamus

Answer 31

Part of the thalamus that carries information about body sense to the somatosensory cortex.

Question 32

Define:

Vestibular System

Answer 32

Somatosensory system comprising a set of receptors in each inner ear that respond to body position and to movement of the head.