Motor control Flashcards
How can voluntary movement be classed?
according to the amount of conscious input required to initiate them
- involuntary
- voluntary
what are two factors that are important in muscle activation
- need to be activated in an appropriate sequence
- need the appropriate amount of force
What is a crucial aspect of motor control?
Motor learning and rehersal
What is motor learning
- Motor learning stores motor skills
- not accessible to the consciousness
- less easily formed than declarative memory
What is the difference between motor learning and declarative memory?
New motor skills need to be continuously rehearsed, but once learnt, they are not as easily forgotten as declarative memory
What is declarative memory?
- factual information
- life events
- available to consciousness
- easily formed/forgotten
What strategies are used by the nervous system for controlling movement?
- ballistic (pre-programmed) movements
- Pursuit or visual feedback movements
What are ballistic movements?
(pre-programmed)
- movement based largely on a set of pre-programmed instructions
- rapid but at the expense of accuracy
- movement cannot be interrupted or corrected
What are pursuit or visual feedback movements?
- motor command continually updated according to sensory feedback
- highly accurate and can be modified in progress but slow
What areas of the neocortex are involved in planning and instruction of movement?
- the motor cortex proper
- the prefrontal cortex
- the primary motor cortex
What areas of the motor cortex proper are involves in controlling movement?
M1 - primary motor cortex
SMA - supplementary motor area
PMA - premotor area
What is the function of the prefrontal cortex in relation to control of movement?
involved in the decision to make the movement, thoughts in response to the environment
What is the function of the primary motor cortex in relation to control of movement?
Is the main output of the motor cortex
What is a platinum grid array electrode
Used for seizure monitoring and brain mapping on subdural cortical surface in conscious patients
Possible to record from awake patients
What is the somatotopic map?
Mapping between ares of the motor cortex and muscles of the body
Which areas of the body require fine motor control?
face and hands
Which areas of the body have the largest representation on the motor homunculus
The face and hands
What is decussation?
Crossing of pathways
Which pathways are decussated?
Pathways providing connections between primary sensory and motor areas and the periphery are crossed
At what level do pathways decussate?
At the level of the medulla
What side of the body does the right motor cortex control?
The left side of the body
What side of the body does the left motor cortex control?
The right side of the body
What is the outcome of a stroke?
Functions may be lost following a stroke depending on the extent of the haemorrhage
The paralysis and loss of sensation will be on the contralateral side to the haemorrhage because of decussation
What are the areas of the neocortex involved in planning and instruction of voluntary movement?
Area 6 = supplementary motor area & pre motor area
What is area 6 of the neocortex involved in?
Important in the planning of movements
In what part of the sequence is activity in area 6 of the neocortex found?
Activity occurs in this area before activity in M1 and movement
What is the evidence for the function of the supplementary motor cortex?
Imaging studies show activity in the SMA, M1 and S1 during finger movement task, but only in the SMA when the movement is mentally rehearsed (without actual movement)
Why is S1 activity present during movement?
Due to sensory input from the movement
Why is SMA isolated in mental rehearsement?
- no movement therefore no activity in M1
- no sensation therefore no activity in S1
Activity in SMA because of planning movement - passes information to M1 so that M1 can send signals via motor neurons to produce muscle contraction
How is isolated SMA movement used clinically?
Can assess patients in a persistent vegetative state to asses activity in the SMA when told to mentally rehearse a movement
Can determine whether the patient is conscious and aware
What is the difference between the premotor area and the SMA?
Essentially the same, but premotor area is for more proximal parts of the body
Both are involved in motor planning and communicating their motor plan to the adjacent M1
Remember PPP!
Premotor area works to Plan movements for Proximal parts of the body
What other areas of the cortex are involved in the control of movement?
Sensory information is crucial for coordinated movement as the brain requires continual input about what is happening to different parts of the body
Vision: eyes, visual system, visual cortex
Vestibular: feedback from organs of balance, essential for maintaining an upright posture
- subcortical
What is proprioception?
Feedback from peripheral sensory receptors on the positions and movement of limbs to he somatic sensory cortex
What happens when there is loss of proprioception?
Inability to create movements, not through paralysis, but through lack of control
What non-cortical brain structures are involved in the control of movement?
The basal ganglia and cerebellum
Where does the basal ganglia receive input from?
Mainly from the prefrontal cortex -> intended movement
`Where does the basal ganglia send output to?
The pre-motor area via the thalamus
What is the function of the basal ganglia in control of movement?
- initiation of movement
- putting mottor plan to action
- planing of complex voluntary movement