Motor Control

Question 1

What is increased efficiency of movement most likely due to?

Answer 1

Improved coordination of muscle activation

Question 2

Where must skill learning occur?

Answer 2

In the appropriate environmental context

Question 3

What are the 3 key components of movement?

Answer 3

• Task
• Environment
• Individual

Question 4

How are motor tasks commonly classified in a physio setting?

Answer 4

• Mobility (sitting, standing, walking etc)

- ADLs (dressing, grooming, feeding etc)

Question 5

What are the environmental factors that influence movement?

Answer 5

• Regulatory: Aspects that shape the movement (e.g. reaching for a cup - shape, weight etc of cup)
• Non-regulatory: movement does not have to conform to these features, but may affect performance (e.g. tennis players need silence when playing)

Question 6

What are the individual factors that influence movement?

Answer 6

• Strength
• Coordination (dexterity, motor control)
• Flexibility
• Sensory information

Question 7

What is dexterity?

Answer 7

Ability to solve any motor task precisely, quickly, rationally & deftly with flexibility with respect to a changing environment

Question 8

What does a loss of dexterity involve?

Answer 8

• Loos of coordination of voluntary muscles to meet environmental demands
• Loss of fractionation of movement (usually loss of ability to independently move fingers)

Question 9

What has research found about the relationship between loss of dexterity and strength?

Answer 9

• Motor activities require both strength & coordination
• Loss of dexterity can occur in the presence of reasonable strength (i.e. need to ensure coordination of muscle activation is intact before building strength)
• Strength & dexterity recover independently & are separate entities

Question 10

What are some of the tests for dexterity?

Answer 10

• Heel-shin (drag right heel up left shin)
• Finger-nose, finger-finger (Fingers out wide, to touching in the middle)
• Thumb/finger opposition
• Toe tapping, heel tapping, hand supination/pronation, finger tapping
• Heel over shin

Question 11

How is performance in dexterity tests assessed?

Answer 11

• Increase speed
• Changing speed
• Changing direction
• Stopping on command
• Adding dual task
  Difficulties = impairment

Question 12

What are the normal values in 15 seconds for supination/pronation, opposition, toe tapping, heel tapping, heel over shin?

Answer 12

• Supination/pronation: 40
• Opposition: 60
• Toe tapping: 60
• Heel tapping: 60
• Heel over shin: 20

Question 13

What are the interventions to increase dexterity?

Answer 13

• Activity-related training: Part/modified task training (e.g. drills)
• Activity training: Whole task
• Activity training: Increases flexibility of performance

Question 14

What are the 2 key features of interventions for dexterity?

Answer 14

• High repetitions

- Specificity (Practicing the task you want to get better at)

Question 15

What are adaptive motor behaviours?

Answer 15

Alternative ways of attempting to move in the presence of weakness and loss of dexterity

Question 16

When do people often develop adaptive motor behaviours?

Answer 16

• Early after acute UMN lesion
• Stereotyped, ineffective & inefficient
• Requires part/modified practice

Question 17

When might an adaptive motor behaviour be the only possible way of performing a task (i.e. can’t intervene)?

Answer 17

When UMNL is the result of a degenerative condition

Question 18

What are the negative impairments of acute UMNLs?

Answer 18

• Loss of strength

- Loss of dexterity

Question 19

What should early training for UMNLs address & avoid?

Answer 19

• Address loss of strength & dexterity (separately)

- Avoid adaptive motor behaviours