Chapter Eleven: Motor Systems Terms Flashcards
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Action Map
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.
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Anterior Spinothalamic Tract
The pathway from the spinal cord to the thalamus that carries information about pain and temperature toward the brain.
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Apraxia
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.
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Body Map
The representation of the human body in the sensory or motor cortex; also topographical representation of the body by a neural area.
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Cerebral Palsy [CP]
A group of disorders that result from brain damage acquired perinatally [at or near birth].
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Constraint-Induced Therapy
A procedure in which restraint of a healthy limb forces a person to use an impaired limb to enhance recovery of function.
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Corticobulbar Tract
A bundle of nerve fibers that directly connects the cerebral cortex to the brainstem nuclei that control facial muscles.
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Corticospinal Tract
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.
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Deafferation
The loss of incoming sensory input, usually due to damage to sensory fibers; also loss of any afferent input to a structure.
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Glabrous Skin
Skin that does not have hair follicles but contains larger numbers of sensory receptors that do hairy skin areas.
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Hapsis
The perceptual ability to discriminate objects on the basis of touch.
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Hyperkinetic Symptom
An excessive involuntary movement, as seen in Tourette syndrome.
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Hypokinetic Symptom
A paucity of movement, as seen in Parkinson disease.
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Ménièr Disease
A disorder of the middle ear resulting in vertigo and loss of balance.
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Monosynaptic Reflex
A reflex requiring one synapse between sensory input and movement.
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Motor Sequence
Movement modules preprogrammed by the brain and produced as a unit.
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Neuroprosthetics
The field that develops computer-assisted devices to replace lost biological function.
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Nociception
The perception of pain, temperature, and itch.
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Pain Gate
A hypothetical neural circuit ini which activity in fine-touch and pressure pathways diminishes the activity in pain and temperature pathways.
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Paraplegia
Paralysis of the legs due to spinal cord injury.
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Periaqueductal Gray Matter [PAG]
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.
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Position-Point Theory
The idea that the motor cortex functions to move a body part to a point in space.
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Posterior Spinothalamic Tract
The pathway in the posterior segment of the spinal cord that contains fine-touch and pressure sensory fibers.
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Proprioception
The perception of the position and movement of the body, limbs, and head.
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Quadriplegia
Paralysis of the legs and arms due to spinal cord injury; also referred to as tetraplegia.
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Rapidly Adapting Receptor
A body sensory receptor that responds briefly to the onset of a stimulus on the body.
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Referred Pain
Pain that arises in one of the internal organs but is felt on the surface of the body.
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Scratch Reflex
An automatic response in which an animal’s hind limb reaches to remove a stimulus from the surface of its body.
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Slowly Adapting Receptor
A body sensory receptor that responds as long as sensory stimulus is on the body.
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Topographic Organization
Neural spatial representation of the body or areas of the sensory world perceived by a sensory organ.
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Ventrolateral Thalamus
Part of the thalamus that carries information about body sense to the somatosensory cortex.
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Vestibular System
Somatosensory system comprising a set of receptors in each inner ear that respond to body position and to movement of the head.
