Motor Control Part 4: Normal Reach, Grasp, and Manipulation

Question 1

What are the 5 key elements of UE reach, grasp, & manipulation?

Answer 1

Visual regard (finding the target)
Coordination of eye-head movements 
Reaching
Grasping
In-hand manipulation skills

Question 2

True or False: Control of manipulation involves both reflexive and voluntary movements, but only feedforward, not feedback processing.

Answer 2

False. It involves reflexive and voluntary movements, as well as feedforward and feedback processing.

Question 3

What 3 areas of the cerebral cortex are critical to the control of reach and grasp?

Answer 3

1. Primary motor cortex
2. Premotor cortex
3. Posterior parietal lobe

Question 4

What is the posterior parietal cortex’s job in reach/grasp?

Answer 4

The posterior parietal cortex is involved in encoding goals for movement.

Question 5

Successful grasp requires an intact _______ tract.

Answer 5

Lateral corticospinal tract (it’s the tract that allows for fractionation).

Question 6

Reaching involves complex interaction of musculoskeletal and neural systems.
Musculoskeletal components include (4):

Answer 6

1. Joint ROM
2. Spinal flexibility
3. Muscle properties
4. Biomechanical relationships among linked body systems

Question 7

What tasks are most difficult if the cerebellum is not in tact?

Answer 7

Bimanual tasks. (Short-term adaptation of adjustment is not possible).