Motor Control Flashcards
What are the different pathways in which the brain is connected to the spinal cord for motor innervation?
Ventral pathways - corticospinal tract & rubrospinal tract
Ventromedial pathways - tectospinal tract, vestibulospinal tract & pontine and medullary reticulospinal tract
What would be lost if there was a lesion of the corticospinal tract and the rubrospinal tract?
Loss of fine movements of arms, hands
Can move shoulders, elbows, and fingers independently
What would be lost if there was lesion of the corticospinal tract but not the rubrospinal tract?
Loss of fine movements and moving limbs independently
However these functions would re appear after a few months as the Rubrospinal tract would take over
How do you refine voluntary movements ?
Motorneurones from the motor cortex both excite and inhibit agonist and antagonist muscles monosynaptically
Where does the corticospinal tract originate?
2/3rd area 4 & 6
1/3rd is somatosensory
Where does the rubrospinal tract originate?
Red nucleus of midbrain
Where does the pontine and medullary reticulospinal tract originate?
The brainstem
What ventromedial pathway is responsible for ensuring eyes remian stable when the body moves?
Tectospinal tract
What ventromedial pathway is responsible for stabalising the head?
The vestibulospinal tract
What ventromedial patwhay is responsible for maintaining balance and body position?
Pontomedullary reticulospinal tract
Where does axons from the corticospinal tract synapse?
Dorsal horn
What areas are responsible for planing and controlling precise movements?
Primary cortex (area 4) Pre motor cortex (area 6)
What is area 6 sub divided into?
Pre motor area
Supplementary motor area
Regarding area 6, what ‘sub area’ innervates distal motor neurones directly? And which one innervates proximal motor units?
Proximal = pre motor area Distal = supplementary area
What area is responsible for proprioception?
Posterior parietal cortex ( area 5 and 7)
If we only think about movements but done carry them out what part of our brain is active?
Area 6
Area 4 is the area for doing it by activating neurones of the CST and RST
What does it mean by there is a feedforward mechanism that controls movement?
Before there is a change in body position, brainstem reticular formation nuclei (controlled by the cortex) initiate feedforward anticipatory adjustments to stabilise posture