Lecture 7: Coordination and balance Flashcards
motor control
Motor control: ability of the central nervous system to control or direct the neuromotor system in purposeful movement and postural adjustment by selective allocation of muscle tension across appropriate joint segments
Components of motor control
Normal muscle tone and postural response mechanisms
Selective movements
coordination
Coordination
ability to execute smooth, accurate, controlled movement
Essence is the sequencing, timing, and grading of the activation of multiple muscle groups
Dexterity
Skillful use of the fingers during fine motor tasks
Agility
The ability to rapidly and smoothly initiate, stop, or modify movements while maintaining postural control
balance
Balance: The condition in which all the forces acting on the body are balanced such that the center of mass (COM) is within the stability limits, the boundaries of the base of support (BOS)
centre of mass
Centre of mass: uniquepoint at any given time where the weighted relative position of a distributed mass sums to zero. The midpoint of body mass in erect standing posture; the COM is located at the level of the second sacral segment
base of support
Base of support: Refers to the area beneath a person that includes every point of contact that the person makes with the supporting surface
Sensory systems for postural control
Sensory Systems for Postural Control
Vision
Somatosensory
Vestibular
Focal vision
Focal vision: cognitive/explicit vision; what you are looking at directly .
plays a role in localizing features in the environment in our conscious reaction to visual events
Ambient vision
Ambient vision: sensorimotor/implicit vision; Utilizes the entire visual field to provide information on the localizing features about the environment and to guide movements using largely unconscious awareness.
What is the pathology associated with impaired ambient vision
Optic ataxia: The patient can recognize an object using focal vision but cannot use visual information to accurately guide the hand to the object (impaired ambient vision).
What is the pathology associated with impaired focal vision
Visual agnosia: patient cannot recognize common objects, but can use the ambient visual system to reach and grasp an object or navigate an environment (impaired focal vision)
vestibular system:
- function
- components
- stabilizes gaze during head movements via the vestibulocular reflex (VOR); assist with postural tone and postural muscle activation via the vestibulospinal reflex (VSR)
- semicircular canals and otolith organs
semicircular canals
Semicircular Canals (SCCs): inner ear apparatus that detects angular acceleration. supports person in maintaining upright posture and balance.
otolith organs
Otolith Organs: inner ear organ that detect linear acceleration and orientation of the head with reference to gravity. assists with balance and posture.
What is the primary function of cerebellum
primary function of the cerebellum is regulation of movement, postural control, and muscle tone
rate,range and force of movement
Compares the commands for the intended movement transmitted from the motor cortex with the actual motor performance of the body segment
cerebellar pathology
- Many of these impairments either directly or indirectly influence the patient’s ability to execute accurate, smooth, controlled movements
The motor deficits identified emphasize the crucial influence of the cerebellum on equilibrium, posture, muscle tone, and initiation and force of movement
Basal ganglia 3 main nuclei
caudate nucleus
putamen
globus pallidus
basal ganglia pathology
Patients with lesions of the basal ganglia typically demonstrate several characteristic motor deficits
1. Slowness of movement 2. Involuntary, extraneous movement 3. Alterations in posture and muscle tone
Dorsal Column-Medial Lemniscal function
mediates sensations critical to coordinated movement such as proprioception, kinesthesia, and discriminative touch
Dorsal Column-Medial Lemniscal Pathology
- Lack of joint position sense and awareness of movement, and impaired localized touch sensation
- Gait pattern is usually wide-based and swaying, with uneven step lengths and excessive lateral displacement
- Dysmetria
- Coordination and/or balance problems will be exaggerated when vision is occluded or when the patient’s eyes are closed
Why does proprioception become poorer as a person gets older?
deterioration of the muscle spindles
Why does the vestibulo-ocular reflex and vestibulospinal reflex deteriorate as a person gets older?
deterioration to the calcium carbonate crystals of the otolith
reduction in the number of hair cells in the inner ear