lecture 5 - movement control Flashcards
what region is responsible for planning of voluntary movement
-descending systems - neurons descend from cortex to the neurons in the body
what is the brainstem concerned with
-concerned with unconscious movement control, things such as movement and posture
-things we don’t put a lot of thought into
-basal ganglia
-cerebellum
-basal ganglia : gatekeeping mechanism , responsible for allowing movements we want to make to be made and stopping movements - connects to motor cortex
-cerebellum - more unconscious control, motor coordination and balance etc - connects to brain stem centre
motor cortex
-motor cortex descents down to local circuit neurons - connect to motor neurone pools
description
motor cortex
-function
-monkey study
-premotor and primary motor cortex in the frontal lobes
-premotor is more responsible for planning than primary motor
-primary cortex responsible for starting off movements
-responsible for planning and more precise control in voluntary movements
-monkey study
-trained monkey to respond with an action when they saw a particular cue
-but there was a delay between seeing the cue and seeing a go signal that indicated for you to do the signal
-so by recording brain activity they found that during the delay period whilst waiting to produce the response , the premotor cortex is active
organisation of the motor cortex
-contralateral control
-type of organisation
-contralateral control - (neurons in motor cortex on the left hemisphere are responsible for movements on the right side of the body
-somatotopically organised (penfield 1930). its grouped by body part-
-muscles are disproportionately represented eg hands or digits have more space in motor cortex than arm etc-look at penfie guy who represents what we would look like according to amount of body part represented in cortex
motor mapping
-wilder penfield 1937 and the montreal procedure
-montreal procedure developed whilst treating epileptic patients and operating on them
-4 patients suffering from epilepsy: went through some pre surgery process where the patient would be conscious, would stimulate the nerves of the brain in order to record what responses they produced
-identified areas of the brain which caused seizures (have bursts of excess activity)
what does motor map represent/not represent
-whatdo lesions in the motor cortex cause
map doesnt represent individual muscles / body parts, but co ordinated groups of muscles
-lesions to motor cortex regions cause deficits in muscle groups (because the muscle groups do actually overlap, not as distinct as thought)
TMS
transcranial magnetic stimulation of motor cortex
-the video
-magnetic coil over motor cortex
-when delivers a magnetic pulse part of body moves
-hempisphere activates response in opposite side of body
key motor areas having more representation in the motor cortexin animals
in animals
-increased representation of paws in racoons (they have tiny people hands and are dexterous)
-increased representation of whiskers in rats and mice
-increased representations of the nose in the star nose mole
-all innate
if someone learns a skill will we see a change in the motor cortex as a result of their learning
-several studies show this
-looking at violinists or string players
-they have larger representation for left hand digit : require extra control (catania and kaas, 1995)
basal ganglia
-functions
-major structures
underneath the cortex
-gatekeeper for initiating movements (preparation for movement)
-full of dopaminergic synapses and their receptors- a key part of this region
-striatum (caudate nucleus,putamen)
-pallidum ( globus pallidus, substantiatnigra)
-thalamus
-subthalamic nucleus
the basal ganglia
-what does the pathway do
-things to be aware of
-allows the start/initiation of intended movements
-regions are linked in a circuit of inhibitory(reduced change action potential sends) and excitatory impulses
-some regions will be constantly inhibited/activated (tonic)
-others will be inhibited / activated for brief periods of time only (transient)
-correct regulation of this is vital in allowing movement to begin
direct pathway
-and which neurons are tonic and transient
-caudate and putamen
-globus pallidus internal - va/vl complex thalamus-frontal cortex
-globus pallidus tonically active
the direct pathway in a situation where no movement is being planned
-in this situation no movement is being planned
-when a is at rest (striatum) is currently not firing
-the neuron in the globus pallidus (b) is tonically active , always firing and sending out signals, it has an inhibitory connection with the thalamus,(c) it stopping the thalamus from sending out signals
-thalamus has other inputs from other regions which are excitatory , (but cell has to add al inputs together to get an outcome)
so thalamus isn’t communicating with the moto cortex and no motor actions are starting (no excitation of D -motor cortex)