Motor control (and brian motor control) Flashcards
What is the “final common pathway”?
The main pathway coming down from the primary motor cortex in the brain (alpha motorneurons). Controls voluntary movements.
What are higher order reflexes?
spinal reflexes that have been tweaked by the input from the brainstem nuclei (to control posture and balance)
Where fo brainstem nucli recieve input from?
Cerebellum, cerebral cortex and basal ganglia
Where is your “muscle memory”?
From cerebellum
What are the 4 systems controlling oevement and what di they do? (.30)
Cerebral cortex (descending control pathways)
-what you want to do
cerebellum
-“while you’re doing that, this is how you’re going to do it”
basal ganglia
-recognise previous experiences, “this is the best way to achieve what you want to do”
spinal reflexes
(local spinal chord/brain stem circuits)
Medial white matter in spinal chord has axons from where?
axons from brainstem
What is the spacial map of body musculature in hte spinal chord?
in anterior horn, have more medial muscles more medially and more lateral muscles more laterally eg fingers are more distal to biceps
What sensory information enters in at:
-spinal chord
-brianstem
-cortex
Spinal chord
-proprioception, tactile localisation, touch, pain
Brainstem
-vestibular system -> information re balance
Cortex
-movements in response to other senses and factors eg smell, emotions, intellectual etc
Stretch reflex: example, uses information from m……
eg platelar tendon reflex
Information from muscle spindles
Monosynaptic
Wha tis reciprocal inhibition?
An inhibitory interneuron that is also synapsed on say the stretch reflex, and causes releaxation of the antagonist to allow the movement to occur
Where does the 3rd lot of information go to?
In platelar tendon reflex:
1. contracts muscle (monosynaptic stretch reflex)
2. Lateral inhibition (antagonist relaxation )
3. Information up to the brain - tha;amus and somatosensory cortex
Inverse stretch reflex is due to what? What does it do? What nerve?
Golgi tendon organs
It prevents muscles being torn off, so if muscle load is too high then it does the opposite of the stretch reflex (relaxes the agonist and stimulates the antagonist
1B afferent nerves
What nerves are 1a?
The stretch reflex
What are the 3 actions of the inverse stretch?
1 = to agonist - inhibitory
2 = to antagonist - excitatory
3 = to the brain
What is the purpose of hte flexor/withdrawal reflex?
To protect us from pain eg protect us from standing on a pin
What is the circuitry of flexor reflex?
It is for pain - the A omega nociceptive axons are triggered by pain, branch a lot, activating interneurons at several spinal levels, activating alpha neurons which control ALL flexor muscles of the affected limb
What is the crossed extensor reflex?
When the pain stimulus from 1 side, causing flexion of he ipsilateral side (activation of flexor agonist and inhibition of flexor antagonists), then also travels to the contralateral side and causes extension of the contralateral limb.
What is faster - flexor and crossed extensor relex or stretch reflex?
Stretch reflex, not as many interneurons
Can the GTO over ridbe overridden by teh CNS?
YES
How do membrane potentials work?
Depends on the stimulus affecting the dendrite - the stronger the stimulus and the closer it is to the axon hillock, then the more likely it is to send off an action potential
What is th e jendrassik manouver and what is it used for? How does it work?
it is used to enhance reflexes, ask the patient to pull apart from their grip and they will start focussing on that rather than the knee jerk. It works beacuse the high activity in the upper motor neurones helps to overcome the descending inhibition
What is anticipating pain?
It is saying that if you are expecting something ot be painful, it most likely will be more painful because the electrical activity centers are readying themselves and can increase strength of the withdrawal reflex when the painful stimulus arrives
primary motor cortex no.
4
What aris the functinal heirarchy? Where are they located?
It is the orfder in which we cna decide what to do and then initiate movements:
-High (strategy - figuring out the goal and how to achieve) - Association neocortex and bsaal ganglion
-Middle (Tactics - hw we are going to do that smoothly and not fall over) - motor cortex and cerebellum
-low (execution - actually firing the action potentials and genarating the movement)