Exam 3 Flashcards
The Neuromotor System
Components of the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS) involved in the control of coordinated movement
Neuron
= Nerve cell
Basic component of the nervous system
Range in size from 4 to 100 microns
Cell body
Contains the nucleus
Dendrites
Extensions from cell body – range from 1 to thousands per neuron
Receive information from other cells
Axon
Extension from cell body – one per neuron with branches (known as collaterals)
Sends information from neuron
Three Types of Neurons
- Sensory Neurons or “afferent” neurons
- Motor Neurons or “efferent” neurons
Interneurons
Sensory Neurons or “afferent” neurons
afferent or toward the brain-( least numerous
Motor Neurons or “efferent” neurons
Interneurons
efferent or away from brain
Interneurons
( most numerous)
efferent
**Function as connections between:
-Axons from the brain and synapse on motor neurons
- Axons from sensory nerves and the spinal nerves ascending to the brain
Two components of CNS
Brain and spinal cord
4 structural components of the brain most directly involved in the control of voluntary movement
- Cerebrum
- Diencephalon
- Cerebellum
- Brainstem
Forebrain
cerebrum and diencephalon
Frontal lobe
voluntary movement, reasoning
- primary motor cortex
- premotor area
not fully developed till 20 years old
primary motor cortex
movement initiation and sends message to skeletal muscle
premotor area
organizes movement PRIOR to initiation
Supplementary motor area
Control SEQUENTIAL movements
Parietal Lobe
perception of sensory info
Occipital lobe
visual perception
Temporal lobe
memory, abstract thought, hearing
Basal ganglia
Deep in cerebrum; involved with smoothness of movement
deficits: Parkinson’s disease & cerebral palsy
Diencephalon
Thalamus
- Hypthalmus
Thalmus
relay station, attention and mood
Hypothalamus
regulation of homeostasis (hunger, thirst)
Cerebellum (left and right hemispheres)
Execution of smooth, coordinated movement
Comparator
error detection and correction
Brainstem
Body functions such as swallowing, chewing, breathing
Life support system
Limbic system
emotions and visceral behaviors
Motor unit
the alpha motor neuron and all of the muscle fibers it innervates
theory
Describe a CLASS OF ACTIONS, make predictions about results of future observations
Coordination
Regardless of level of skill
Pattering of head, body and limb movements at any specific point in time
Relative to patterning of environmental objects and events
Closed Loop
has feedback(afferent information)
- instructions only sufficient to initiate movement
open-loop
- no feedback
- instructions contain all info needed to carry out movement
Motor Program-Based Theory
Schmidt’s Schema Theory
Motor program
memory-based construct controlling coordinated movement
Generalized motor program (GMP)
mechanism responsible for coordination controls a class of similar actions with common invariant features After the GMP is retrieved, movement specific parameters are added
Dynamic Pattern Theory
- Emphasizes the role of information in the environment, and dynamic properties of
the body and limbs - Describes why changes in behavior can be abrupt, non-linear, in response to
linear increases of a specific variable (such as speed) - self-organization, which is the emergence of a specific stable pattern of behavior due to certain conditions
Attractors
stable behavioral steady states
Coordinative structures or muscle synergies
functionally specific collections of
muscles and joints that work together; these can develop naturally OR
through practice
Perception-action coupling
spatial and temporal coordination of vision with movement of hands or feet to achieve a goal
(hand-eye coordination)
Attention
characteristics associated with consciousness, awareness, cognitive effort
Arousal
general state of excitability
Enduring dispositions
things that naturally attract our attention or distract us
Momentary intentions
specific self-directed intentions or result of instructions
that direct one’s attention to a certain aspect of activity at that moment
Dual-task procedure
common experimental procedure used in research to determine the amount of attention required to perform an action, and what attention issues limit motor skill learning, but not the focus of attention.
Attentional or attention focus
directing attention to specific regulatory features in the performance environmen
Action effect hypothesis
actions are best planned by their intended effects or outcomes, not by focus on the movement itself
Automaticity
performing a skill or activity without requiring attention resources or capacity
visual selective attention
- Most commonly studied area of selective attention
- directing visual attention to environmental information
visual search
the performer looks for this information
Issue of eye movements and visual attention
study of eye movements UNDERESTTIMATES
what the person is visually attending to, as it does not take peripheral vision into
account
Feature integration theory
during visual search, we group stimuli according to unique features such as color or shape, and select cues while ignoring others
Processes that are affected by visual search
- action selection
- constraining of selected action
- timing of action initiation
- ENABLES PERSON TO PREPARE/ANTICIPATE ACTION REQUIRED
Training visual search strategies LACK of benefit to generalized training because?
need to learn specific strategies for one’s activity, which is learned through
experience of that activity
Working memory
temporary workspace; stores retrieve info
long term memory systems
Procedural
Semantic
Episodic
Procedural
HOW to do something (may not be able to verbally describe)
In motor terms – only acquired through physical practice, like tying shoes
Semantic
general knowledge about the world, concepts like “dog”
Episodic
personal events, mentally travel back in time
Declarative knowledge
“what to do”, can verbalize
Procedural knowledge
“how to do”, difficult to verbalize
Explicit memory tests
assess what a person can consciously remember
Recall test
fill in the blanks (Name the bones of the hand)
Recognition test
multiple choice
Implicit memory tests
information you can utilize but cannot identify
- For motor skills, can perform but not verbally describe
- Cannot use recall and recognition tests for this type of memory
Proactive interference
activity occurring PRIOR to presentation of information that negatively affects remembering
Retroactive interference
interfering activity occurs AFTER presentation of information during the retention interval
When does Retroactive interference result in poorer performance
1) If activity is similar to what needs to be remembered
2) If it exceeds a certain amount
Movement characteristics related to memory performance
- Location and distance
- End-point location remembered better than movement distance
- Meaningfulnes of movement
- Movement is remembered better if it is related to something known than to
abstraction; can create verbal labels such as clockface for direction
Four reasons why use of metaphoric imagery and verbal labels aid learning:
1) reduce complexity of VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS (not complexity of the skill)
2) change an abstract array of movements to a more MEANINGFUL FORM
3) direct performer’s attention to MOVEMENT OUTCOMES (not the specificmovements)
4) speed up the movement PLANNING PROCESS (not the cognitive process for
learning the movement)
Intentional memory
know in advance that you want to remember this information; leads to better remembering
Incidental memory
memory of information that you did NOT know in advance you wanted to recall
Encoding specificity principle
memory test performance is directly related to amount of similarity between practice and test contexts
