Motor Control and Motor Learning

Question 1

Motor Control

Answer 1

-ability to regulate or direct mechanisms essential to movement
-info processing, organizes musculoskeletal system to create coordinated, goal-directed movements

Question 2

Strategies of motion control

Answer 2

feed-forward strategy

feed-back strategy

Question 3

Therapeutic strategies improve quality and quantity of _______

Answer 3

postures and movements essential to function

Question 4

Three constraints that contribute to organization of movement

Answer 4

-Task (T)
-Individual (I)
-Environment (E)

Question 5

Individual constraints

Answer 5

-Perception
-Action
-Cognition

Question 6

Action

Answer 6

-controlling of muscles and joints to execute coordinated functional movement
-multiple ways one movement can be carried out

Question 7

Degrees of freedom problem

Answer 7

process of choosing between equivalent solutions to do a movement, then coordinating the muscles and joints involved in the movement

Question 8

Perception

Answer 8

-sensory info becoming useful information in the CNS
-provides info about the body and environment, CRITICAL for movement regulation
-PNS mechanisms collect and high-level processing processes AFFERENT information

Question 9

Cognition

Answer 9

-attention, planning, problem solving, motivation and emotion
-mental systems interacting

Question 10

Dual task control

Answer 10

Being able to perform multiple actions simultaneously, or accomplish something with many demands placed on us
Ex. walking and having a conversation in a noisy hallway

Question 11

Task constraints

Answer 11

-nature of task performed determines movement needed
-classification parameters used

Question 12

Functional categories

Answer 12

-bed mobility
-transfer tasks
-walking + ADL’s

Question 13

Neural control mechanisms

Answer 13

Discrete - definite beginning and end

Continuous - No recognizable beginning and end. End point is not required. Ex. Walking, running

Question 14

Base of support classification

Answer 14

Stability = stable BOS, sitting/standing

Mobility = moving BOS, walking/running

Question 15

Sequenced tasks are used when?

Answer 15

-when an object needs to be manipulated
-when there’s an increased demand for stability (ex. weightlifting)

Question 16

Movement variability

Answer 16

Open movements - constant changing, unpredictable environment

Closed movements - fixed, predictable movements

Question 17

Retraining functional movement depends on what?

Answer 17

-Understanding nature of tasks
-having a framework for functional evaluation

Question 18

Environment constraints

Answer 18

Regulatory - movement conforms to features of the environment (ex. walking up a step to get in the house)

Non-regulatory - movement does not conform to specific feature. May or may not affect moving. (ex. background noise)

Question 19

Systems Theory

Answer 19

-Body is a mechanical system with many degrees of freedom that need to be controlled
-Higher levels of nervous system (CNS) control lower levels (CNS takes care of basic skills so we can focus on higher level things. Breaks down in strokes!)
-Lower levels control synergies (groups of muscles) to act to together (walking and not activating 16 muscles independently)

Question 20

What creates movement according to systems theory?

Answer 20

-Interplay between body system, external force, and variations in the initial condition
-More advanced tasks = more synergies involved

Question 21

Degrees of freedom

Answer 21

-Basically having lots of different options or movements to accomplish something
-Differs from person to person
-refers to planes of movement!

Question 22

Dynamic systems theory

Answer 22

-Similar to systems theory, but places less emphasis on CNS and more on secondary systems
-Focuses on control parameter system

Question 23

Variability in motor control in Dynamic Systems theory

Answer 23

-variability is not because of error, but is needed for optimal function
-need flexible, adaptive strategies to adjust to environment
-have to have just the right amount of variability
-Attractor well

Question 24

Attractor well

Answer 24

Figure showing how preferred or stable a movement pattern is

Deep well = very hard to change the pattern

Ex. If a px only learns to climb the stairs with the railing on the right, what will happen if they need to climb the stairs with the railing on the left?

Question 25

Motor learning

Answer 25

-study of acquisition or modification of movement
-can also be re-acquisition of movement or skills lost by injury

Question 26

Learning:

Answer 26

-is acquiring the capability for skilled action
-resultes from experience or practice
-cannot be measured directly, referred from behavior changes
-is relatively permanent changes in behavior

Question 27

Performance vs. learning

Answer 27

Performance: temporary change during practice

Learning: permanent change in skill retention

Question 28

What two strategies are necessary to achieve a task solution?

Answer 28

sensing (perception, action, cognition)

moving (execution)

Question 29

Closed loop theory

Answer 29

motor control is achieved by feedback, actual response needs to confirm desired response. If it doesn’t, corrections are made

Question 30

Adam’s closed loop theory

Answer 30

sensory feedback from ongoing movement is compared with the stored memory of the intended movement within a closed loop process

Question 31

Open loop theory

Answer 31

-no position feedback of a moving object
-execution of a preprogrammed movement (a motor program) w/o perceptual feedback
-“muscle memory”

Question 32

Schmidt’s schema theory

Answer 32

Theory that people learn movements in “generalized movement programs” and adjusting those to the environment

Question 33

Fitts and Posner Three-stage model

Answer 33

1. Cognitive stage
   -understanding task, choosing a strategy.
   -What must be done?
   -lots of attention and erros
2. Associative stage
   -how should it be done?
   -best strategy chosen, start refining the skill
   -small variability and improvement in performance
3. Autonomous stage
   -What presents success?
   -perform skills automatically, little to now attention
   -can do advanced stuff like dual-task performance

Question 34

Systems three-stage model

Answer 34

learning to control “degrees of freedom”

1. Novice stage (freeze degree of freedom)
   -simplify movement by stiffening body parts to control degree of freedom
   -accurate but not efficient
2. Advanced stage (release additional degree of freedom)
   -things are being refined, muscle synergies are coordinated better.
   -contraction of agonists + antagonists reduced

3.Expert stage (release all degrees of freedom)
-use energy more efficiently, fatigue is reduced
-rely on more passive forces, movements are optimized

Question 35

Gentile two stage model

Answer 35

Stage 1:
-Understand requirements of movement
-develop goal and strategy to get it
-distinguish regulatory and non-regulatory factors of environment

Stage 2:
-refine the movement
-adapting to changing task or environment
-closed skills need fixation (minimal environment changes, movement consistency)
-open skills need diversification (changing environment, movement diversity)

Question 36

Stages of motor learning

Answer 36

Acquisition or practice phase: -errors
-skills are learned
-performance

Retention and transfer phase:
-skill mastery
-information stored to be retrieved later for new situations
-learning

Question 37

Intrinsic feedback

Answer 37

-acquired through sensory systems
-proprioception or somatosensory info
-can be distorted by injury

Question 38

Extrinsic feedback

Answer 38

knowledge of results (KR): outcome of the movement

knowledge of performance (KP): how the movement was done, or the movement pattern used.

Question 39

Practice conditions

Answer 39

-massed vs. distributed
-constant vs. variable
-random vs. blocked
-whole vs. part

Question 40

Massed vs. distributed

Answer 40

Massed: practice time > rest time b/w trials

Distributed: Rest time b/w trials > practice time

Question 41

Constant vs. variable

Answer 41

Constant: learning a skill under the same conditions

Variable: learning a skill under changing or a variety of conditions

Question 42

Random vs. blocked

Answer 42

Random: practice motor tasks in a random order

Blocked: practice motor tasks in a fixed order

Question 43

Whole vs. part

Answer 43

Whole: practicing the entire movement at once

Part: breaking movement into different components

Question 44

What does the amount of transfer for a movement or skill depend on?

Answer 44

similarity between tasks or environments

Question 45

Unguided motor learning is ____

Answer 45

less effective for immediate skill acquisition but better for effective for transfer

Question 46

Key learning elements

Answer 46

-environmental considerations
-motivation
-attention
-guidance and instruction
-selection of feedback and practice

Question 47

Learning changes due to aging

Answer 47

-performance of skills that are time related declines
-older adults benefit from cognitive learning strategies like mental practice
-processing new information takes longer due to changes in CNS
-need to adapt principles of motor learning and environment where skills are practiced

Question 48

Ability to learn is dependent on:

Answer 48

-intelligence
-learning skills acquired over the years
-flexibility of learning style
-non-cognitive factors (generational differences, attitudes, etc.)