Exam 2: Neurophysiology Part 1 - Muscle Receptors and Central Control of Movement Flashcards
What is a reflex
Involuntary, quantitatively unvarying response of the nervous system to a stimulus
Components of a reflex arc (5)
- Receptor
- Sensory Neuron
- One or more synapses (interneurons) in the CNS (polysynaptic or monosynaptic reflexes)
- Motor Neuron
- Target Organ
What do sensory receptors collect and what do they turn them into
Environmental signals
Turn them into a cellular response (Action Potential)
What is a primary receptor
A neuron with a peripheral ending specialized for stimulus transduction
Ex - retinal photoreceptors
What is a secondary receptor
A non-neuronal cell designed for stimulus transduction that affects an adjacent neuron
Ex - hair cell in inner ear
3 different types of reflexes
Segmental
Intersegmental
Suprasegmental
Segmental reflex arc
Occurs in small segment of spinal cord
Info doesn’t travel to brain - spinal cord deals with info and sends signal to organ
Ex - knee jerk reflex, pupillary light reflex
Intersegmental reflex
Info travels to other parts of the CNS - upper spinal cord
Ex - cutaneous trunci reflex
Suprasegmental reflex
Requires connection with the brain
Ex - vestibulospinal reflex, proprioceptive positioning reflex
How does CNS control body movement (3)
- Assessing effect of gravity on body muscles
- Determining initial position of body parts to be moved
- Detecting any discrepancy between the intended movement and what actually occurred
How does CNS get info about movement
Muscle stretch receptors
Types of muscle stretch receptors
Muscle spindle
Golgi tendon organ
What type of fibers are in a muscle spindle receptor
Intrafusal fibers
How are fibers in the muscle spindle receptor arranged
Intrafusal fibers are arranged in parallel with the extrafusal muscle fibers
What does the muscle spindle receptor detect
Muscle stretching
How are fibers in the Golgi tendon organ arranged
Arranged in series with extrafusal muscle fibers located in the tendon of muscles
What does Golgi tendon organ detect
Muscle tension produced by contraction
What types of neurons innervate the muscle spindle receptor
Sensory - Ia and II afferent neurons
Motor - gamma motor neuron to intrafusal fibers and alpha motor neuron to same muscle and to an antagonistic muscle
3 effects of muscle spindle receptor activation in the spinal cord
- EPSP on a-motor neuron returning to same muscle –> muscle contraction
- IPSP in a-motor neuron of the antagonist muscle via synapsis with an inhibitory interneuron
- Concurrently: y-motor neurons located at the polar ends of intrafusal fibers cause shortening of the spindle’s polar regions –> the spindle receptor thus remains both morphologically and functionally intact
Activity of Ia and II muscle fibers during different muscle phases
- Static phase
Ia and II - evenly spaced AP - Dynamic phase - stretch
Ia - Very active, increased firing rate, lots of AP
II - Increased firing rate, but not as fast as Ia fibers - Static phase
Ia and II - Evenly spaced AP, but more than in first static phase - Dynamic phase - shortening
Ia - Does not produce any AP
II - Does produce AP but not a lot - Static phase
Ia - Have AP again, but not a lot in beginning of phase because needs time to get started again after not having any APs
II - still have AP and are more frequent than in the shortening phase
What happens to the golgi tendon organ during muscle contraction
Tension is applied to the golgi tendon organ causing the collagen fibrils to tighten
Mechanism of golgi tendon organ
APs are sent to the CNS via sensory neuron and induce IPSP in the a-motor neuron returning to the same muscle
Decreased extrafusal muscle fiber contraction
Lower motor neuron
a-motor neuron
Cell body and dendrites are located in CNS
Axons extend out through peripheral nerves to skeletal muscles
Upper motor neuron
Lies completely in the CNS
Controls the lower motor neuron
Recognizing disease of lower motor neurons (4)
Paralysis (no muscle contraction) or paresis (incomplete paralysis)
Atrophy (wasting of skeletal muscle mass distal to lower motor neuron lesion)
Loss of segmental and intersegmental reflexes
Changes in electrical activity of the muscle (observed by electromyogram)
Recognizing upper motor neuron disease (4)
Inappropriate movement (due to no control of lower motor neurons if upper motor neurons not functioning)
NO atrophy
Exaggerated segmental reflexes
Normal electromyogram
Define corticospinal
Starts in cortex and goes to spinal cord