Motor Control Flashcards
What does motor control refer to?
Motor control refers to the ability of the brain to plan, execute, and coordinate movements of the body.
What does motor control involve?
motor control involves the activation of motor neurons in the spinal cord, which in turn innervate muscles and produce movement.
The motor cortex plays a key role in planning and initiating movements, and it sends signals to the spinal cord through descending pathways.
These signals are modulated by feedback from sensory receptors, which help to adjust movements based on changes in the environment.
What is the basal ganglia’s role in movement?
The basal ganglia is involved in selecting and initiating movements
the basal ganglia and frontal lobe work together to plan and execute movements, with the basal ganglia helping to select appropriate actions and the frontal lobe involved in planning specific movements based on sensory and internal cues.
What is the cerebellum’s role in movement?
the cerebellum is responsible for coordinating and fine-tuning movements.
What is the location of M1 (primary motor cortex)?
primary motor cortex is located in the precentral gyrus of the frontal lobe of the brain
How is M1 organized?
M1 is organized in a somatotopic manner, meaning that different parts of the body are represented in different areas of the cortex.
larger areas of the cortex are devoted to muscles with finer control, such as the hands and face, while smaller areas are devoted to muscles with coarser control, such as the trunk and legs.
Why is the organization and location of M1 important?
It plays a critical role in the control of voluntary movements, with different parts of the cortex corresponding to different body parts and muscles.
What does the cerebellum do for motor control?
The cerebellum is a region of the brain located at the back of the skull, just above the brainstem. It is involved in motor control and coordination, among other functions.
The cerebellum predicts consequences of movements, precisely controls timing and learns motor sequences.
What are the motor regions of the cerebral cortex?
- prefrontal cortex
- premotor areas
- primary motor cortex
What is the prefrontal cortex?
prefrontal cortex does a lot of things, such as keeping
“in mind” your current behavioral goals
What do the premotor areas include?
“supplementary motor area” (SMA, more dorsal
& medial): active during the desire to act.
- Electrical stimulation causes a desire to act
‣ the dorsal and ventral premotor areas: active
during preparation to act (e.g., seeing something
and making the plan to reach out and grab it
What does the primary motor cortex do?
does final coordination and sends the movement command down to the spinal cord
What are CPGs?
Central Pattern generators: Neural circuits in the spinal cord and brainstem that can automatically generate repetitive movements
(running, walking, chewing, breathing, hitting a drum…)
Where do action potentials happen?
Action potentials happen in alpha motor neurons (aka lower motor neurons) originating from the spinal cord causing muscle cells to contract
What is the process of muscle contraction?
Muscles pull on tendons, which pull on bones, which move in the joint.
Tendons connect muscles to bones
