CONTROL OF HUMAN MOVEMENT Flashcards
How many neurones are present in the brain
100 billion
How much % of total energy does the brain consume
20% of total energy
Why doesn’t the brain feel pain
It has no nerves
Therefore feels no pain
What type of relationship do curvature and velocity have
positive relationship
what is space
a set of points with some added structures
What does Fitts Law state
If you need accuracy you become slower
What are coordinates
A set of numbers that uniquely determine a point in space
Can one space have multiple coordinate systems
Yes
What can a coordinate frame also be called
A reference frame
Define egocentric
coordinate system attached to our body
Define allocentric
coordinate system attached to external world/ object
If you are trying to find kinetics is it inverse of forward dynamics
Inverse
you are trying to find kinetics so you go from
kinematics –> kinetics which is inverse
If you are trying to find kinematics it inverse of forward dynamics
Forward
you are trying to find kinematics so you go from
kinetics –> kinematics which is forward
What does kinetics refer to
forces & torques
What does kinematics refer to
distances & angles
What is newtons 2nd law
F=ma
What is feedforward control
You plan in advance
Pre determined actions
What type of loop is feedforward control
open loop
what are the pros of feedforward control/ open loop
Movement can be controlled without gathering/ processing any external info
good for fast movement
what are the cons of feedforward control/ open loop
Error made by controller accumulates over time
No flexibility to environmental changes
High cost of planning, no generalisation
what is feedback control
You have policies (rule/ strategy), controller is gathering/ processing sensory feedback
eg- tube tourist example: ask around then go there, then ask again
what type of loop is feedback control
closed
what are the pros of feedback control/ closed loop
Flexible- can deal with unexpected events
Robust- control error does not accumulate over time
General- control is invariant to starting or goal opposition
what are the cons of feedback control/ closed loop
Processing sensory feedbacks is time consuming- not good for fast movement
Controller can become unstable when sensory feedbacks are noisy and the feedback gain is high (how seriously one takes the answer)
Can also become unstable when feedbacks are delayed
What is variability
When the same movement is repeated, controller behaviours under uncertainties result in different movement patterns
What 2 problems does the brain solve
Localisation
Planning
What is localisation
representation of the location of the object
What is planning
plan of reaching based on the representation
What sensory info is needed for localisation & planning
Destination (target)
extrinsic info, spatial location of the target through visual info & auditory info
Where am I/ what am I doing?
intrinsic info, kinetic & kinematic info of the body
-Muscle spindle: length and velocity of each muscle
-Golgi tendon organs: force produced by each muscle
-Mechanoreceptors: force exerted/ received on skin
What level of cortical control do voluntary movements need
a higher level of cortical control
How do you grab the apple in a reaching movement
general plan –> motor commands
Multi-stage sensorimotor transformations are required
What is an intrinsic coordinate system
joint angle coordinate
Muscle lengths
Proprioreceptive info
What is an extrinsic coordinate system
Allocentric/ egocentric coordinates
Exteroceptive (sensory info); visual & auditory
What is the PRR
Parietal reach region
What is the PPC
Posterior Parietal cortex
What are the sources of variability
- input- estimation of location & target
- intrinsic- Sensors and motor neurons, fluctuations in membrane potentials , this limits the accuracy and precision of the control
- output- caused by motor neurons and muscles (increased excitability + more motor neurons) this is called signal dependent noise
What are the internal models split into
Inverse- used to plan movement for a given task goal
Forward- predict consequence of the movement without sensory feedback
What does the inverse model do
determines the motor commands that will produce a behavioural goal
what does the forward model do
stimulates the interaction of the motor system and the world
can therefore predict behaviours
What is the efference copy
Within the forward model a copy of motor commands is sent to the muscles
this is the efferenence copy
What is directional tuning
Neurons in the primary motor cortex have their own preferred directions
What is a saccade
A very quick movement
What section of the body are feedforward controls usually used for
eye movement
What is intermittency
pause until sensory feedback arrives and then resumes
What can prediction do?
Compensate for sensorimotor delays
What is the observer model
How to mix what we predicted and what was sensed
What is the forward dynamic model
What is my current status (position, velocity, joint angle etc)
What is the forward sensory model
in that status what sensory info am I supposed to sense
tactile, gravity etc
What are the 2 types of memory
explicit (declarative) and Implicit (procedural)
What is explicit (declarative) memory
eg- name/ address
able to explain what you’ve learnt
easily forgotten
what is Implicit (procedural) memory
eg- learning to ride a bike/ play piano
- takes place without consciously thinking about it
- unable to explain what you’ve learnt
- can be retained for extended periods of time without practice
What type of memories are motor skills
implicit
How are internal models maintained
generalisation
retrieval
what is generalisation
when a skill is learned the brain needs to utilise it in a different scenario
what is retrieval
among the skills already learned the brain needs to select the appropriate skill to use depending on the scenario
what cues work well for retrieving internal models
state-related cues
- visual feedbacks of movement
- proprioreceptive feedbacks (hand position etc)
what cues DONT work well for retrieving internal models
State-unrelated cues
- static cues (background colours etc)
- visual motions not related to the movement
When getting sensory feedback what is the most important thing
PROPRIORECEPTION! More so than vision
patients who have lost proprioreception have particular difficulty controlling the dynamic properties of their limbs
What does the stretch reflex do
keep the muscle at desired length
What do alpha motor neurone do
cause contraction of muscle
what do gamma moto neurons do
adjust the sensitivity of the reflex and allow muscles to contact until they reach desired lengths
What was sherringtons reflex hypothesis
movement is generated by stretch reflexes - which is a sensory afferent
What was merlons servo reflex hypothesis
gamma motor neuron drive precedes the movement (alpha motor neurone drive)
how can muscle spindle discharges be recorded
microneurography
what does EPH stand for
Equilibrium point hypothesis
What is EPH
EPH assumes the brain controls a virtual equilibrium point to control the reaching movement
what is coriolos force
rotation force- think spinning room get pinned against wall trying to move arms
what is the optical control model of movement
assumes that the controller tries to minimise or maximise a certain benefit produced by resultant action
what is jerk
the rate of change of acceleration
related to smoothness of the movement
what are properties the brain optimises
smoothness
torque
uncertainty
signal dependant noise
what is the function of dendrites
receives information
what is the function of the cell body
processes and integrates the information received in the dendrite
what is the function of the axon
carries the information along long distances from one part of the neuron to the other
what is the function of the axon terminal
Transmits the information to next cell in the chain
what is a bundle of axons together called
a nerve
what is the value for resting membrane potential
-70mV
What is threshold for membrane potential
-55mV or higher
what happens when threshold is reached
an action potential is triggered
what is depolarisation
ions go into the cell membrane making it become more positive
makes action potential more likely
what is repolarization
due to the electrochemical gradient, ions flow back through the cell causing it to become more negative
what is hyper polarisation
if membrane potential becomes lower than -70mV
makes action potential less likely
what are the passive electrical properties of neurone
wires conduct current by electron flow in metal
neurons conduct current by ion flow in fluid
what is RL
longitudinal resistance
want this low
What is RM
medial resistance
want this high
what is space constant
how FAR voltage travels
what is time constant
how FAST voltage travels
what are the 2 factors decay is defined by
space constant
time constant
anything that increases medial resistance does what to space constant
increases space constant
anything that reduces longitudinal resistance does what to space constant
increases space constant
anything that increases space constant does what to conduction velocity
increase conduction velocity
anything that reduces time constant does what to conduction velocity
increase conduction velocity
what does RMP stand for
resting membrane potential
describe how an action potential is initiated
- Cell membrane becomes depolarized
- Once depolarization reaches threshold, Na+ channels open
- Resulting in an influx of Na+ leads to further depolarization
- Adjacent Na+ channels are opened, causing a chain reaction
- Meanwhile, K+ channels open more slowly causing an outflow of K+
- Resulting in outflow of K+, repolarizes membrane potential
- Na+ channels become closed, and temporarily deactivated
what are the 3 states of and Na channel
open/ closed/ deactivated
what are the 2 states of a K channel
open/closed
how fast do Na and K channels open and why
Na channels open quickly
K channels open more slowly
This is crucial for ensuring action potential only travels in one direction
What increases conduction velocity
increased neuron diameter
myelination
temperature
how does increases neurone diameter increase conduction velocity
diameter affects RL more than RM
therefore larger space constant
therefore faster conduction
why does myelination increase conduction velocity
myelin insulation increases space constant
space constant increases conduction velocity
action potential jumps at nodes of ranvier in salutary conduction
give 2 examples of diseases that are effects of demyelination
MS
Guillian-Barre syndrome
how to measure conduction velocity
stimulate motor neuron at 2 sites
measure latency of evoked responses
calculate velocity by speed = distance/ time
what is a reflex
An action that is performed without conscious thought as a response to a stimulus
what do all reflexes require
sensorimotor integration
- Sensory receptor
- Afferent pathway
- Synapse onto alpha motor neuron
- Neuromuscular junction
what does it mean that the stretch reflex is autogenic
Autogenic means same muscle that detects the stretch is the same muscle that will contract
what’s afferent
towards CNS
what’s efferent
away from CNS
how does a stretch reflex cause contraction
- stretch of muscle spindles
- afferent info from muscle spindle to spinal cord
- sensory neuron syntheses with motor neuron in cord
- efferent info from motor neuron to muscle
- muscle contracts
what does EMG stand for
electromyography
what does EMG measure
measures muscles response or electrical activity in response to a nerves simulation of the muscle
what is the purpose of stretch reflex
acts as a negative feedback control system to maintain desired limb position
why does loss of supra spinal input cause hyper reflexia/ spasticity
Descending input from the brain, normally acts to regulate (inhibit) reflex gain in the spinal cord
Spinal cord injury, stroke, and other conditions that effect upper motor neurons can abolish this tonic inhibitory input
This causes reflex gain to increase – ‘hyper-reflexia’
Can result in severely increased muscle tone and spasticity
what type of reflex is a stretch reflex
monosynaptic & dysnaptic
flexion withdrawal reflex is what type of reflex
polysnaptic
describe how Hand is moved away from painful stimulus
- painful stimulus
- pain receptors in free nerve endings stimulated
- afferent info to spinal cord via type 3 sensory neurons
- sensory neurons synapse with spinal cord interneurons
- interneurons synapse with spinal cord motor neurons
- flexor muscles in affected limb contract
- injured area removed from stimulus
what is crossed extension reflex
contralateral limb to stimulus
what type of reflex is crossed extension reflex
polysnaptic
too little movement in a reflex could be caused by
sensory nerve damage
to much movement in a reflex could be caused by
cereal palsy
stroke
brain injury
upper spinal cord injury
what is a motor unit
one alpha neuron and all of the muscle fibres it activated
describe the chain of events in a muscle contraction
- Action potential (AP) stimulates the release of a neurotransmitter across the neuromuscular junction
- AP spreads across the sarcolemma/ muscle membrane and into fiber along the T tubules (extensions of the membrane)
- Causes the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum
- Calcium binds to muscle and causes cross bridge cycling
what does one action potential create
a single twitch
what do multiple action potentials create
generates continuous force
tetanic contraction
how do muscles generate extra force
increasing frequency of firing of motor units
recruiting more motor units
what is an innervation number
number of fibres per motor neuron
what does an innervation number mean
lower innervation number = more control
what does NMJ stand for
neuromuscular junction
How do u perform EMG
electrical signal can be recorded by inserting a needle electrode into the muscle
OR a surface electrode at skin level
What is a neuromuscular junction
a chemical synapse between a motor unit and a muscle
what is the relationship between muscle force and the EMG signal
the amplitude of EMG signal is proportional to force produced by muscle
how do we see the action potential on the EMG
action potentials from numerous motor units summate to produce EMG signal
factors that affects the relationship between force and muscle activity
type of muscle contraction
type of muscle fibres
joint angle
how does type of muscle contraction affect the relationship between force and muscle activity
concentric v eccentric
how does type of muscle fibres affect the relationship between force and muscle activity
- Slow v fast
- Fast = higher resting membrane potential (RMP), greater density sodium channels, faster action potentials
how does joint angle affect the relationship between force and muscle activity
- Maximum force at particular length
- When optimal cross bridge overlap
what does muscle fatigue due to the with duration
causes prolonged twitch duration meaning an increased relaxation time due to biochemical changes in muscle
frequency of motor units firing decreases therefore less force