Motor Control: Reflexes Flashcards
motor control reflexes in the cortex
- placing reaction
- hopping reaction
motor control reflexes in the brainstem/midbrain
- vestibular
- righting reflex
- suckle*
- yawn*
- eye/head movements*
*these occur even with encephalic defects, so even after traumatic brain injuries, these can often be mistaken for a thing that is volitional, but that is not true
motor control reflexes in the SC
- stretch/myotatic
- golgi tendon reflex
- crossed extensor–withdrawal from something but then move the rest of the body to make up for the movement
difference b/w reflex and volitional motion
reflex
- precise motions in response to afferent stimuli
- mediated at all levels of CNS
- rapid initiation
- many elicited even during unconsciousness
volitional activity
- originates in cortical areas associated with judgment, initiative, and motor control
- longer onset latency due to processing
- require conscious awareness
myotatic reflex
- stretch reflex
- appearance: contraction (shortening) of the stretched muscle
- purpose: protect muscle from tearing from stretch
- characteristics:
- initiated by muscle spindle
- monosynaptic, segmental reflex–afferent info comes into the same segment of the SC that the motor will leave
muscle spindle
- myotatic reflex
- extrafusal fibers–fibers you see when looking at a M and they are the fibers that do the work
- intrafusal fibers
- parallel to extrafusal fibers
- have an afferent sensory component in the center and an efferent motor component at the periphery/ends
sensory portion of the intrafusal M fibers of the muscle spindle
- sensory portion:
- not contractile
- portion sensitive to length
- actually 2 different afferents
- nuclear bag fiber–nuclei are in the center in a swelling
- nuclear chain fiber–nuclei are lined up in a row
primary afferent in the sensory portion of the intrafusal M fibers of M spindle
type 1 A fiber
- innervates both the nuclear bag and nuclear chain fiber
- large, myelinated 1a fiber
- sensitive to both:
- length of M
- how fast the length is changing
- fires a few APs per sec at rest, but fires inc APs when the muscle spindle is stretched
secondary afferent in the sensory portion of the intrafusal M fibers of M spindle
type 2 fiber
- slightly smaller than type 1A fiber
- innervates only the nuclear chain fiber
- sensitive to only the length of the M–tells us what the length of the M is RIGHT NOW, and doesn’t give any info o if the M is changing
- less myelin
motor portion of the intrafusal M fibers of the muscle spindle
- same as skeletal M
- innervated by a gamma motoneuron–this neuron goes thru NMJ and releases ACh
- control the length of the sensory portion
how does the contraction of the intrafusal sensory and motor fibers
- by contracting the intrafusal Ms, we stretch the sensory portion, this renders the sensory portion more sensitive to a superimposed stretch
- the motor portion on each end is attached to ligaments/tendons that the M is attached to and as we contract the motor part the sarcomeres move closer together, and we stretch the sensory portion nuclear bag/chain
- gamma motoneurons control the sensitivity
alpha vs. gamma motoneurons
alpha motoneurons
- large, heavily myelinated fiber
- innervates (via NMJ) the skeletal M
- responsible for activating M
- activity directly leads to motion
gamma motoneurons
- slightly smaller, slower than alpha–still fast overall
- innervates the contractile component of the M spindle via the NMJ
- activity causes contraction
- controls sensitivity of M spindle
- activity does NOT lead to motion
how does the myotatic reflex work for the agonistic M
- 1a afferent neuron comes into the SC and releases EAA onto the alpha motor neuron
- motoneuron is excited by the activation of the 1a afferent–>contraction relieves the stretch, returning the 1a discharge rate back to normal
how does the myotatic reflex work for the antagonistic M
- when elicit a stretch reflex on the agonistic M and contract the M, the antagonistic M is also stretched but don’t get another stretch reflex
- when 1a afferent comes in, it sends a branch to an interneuron that inhibits the alpha motor neuron to the antagonist M which allow the antagonist M to relax and allow the original M to experience the reflex–RECIPROCAL INHIBITION
- anytime you contract one M, their antagonist M must relax
- there is a decrease in the activity of the alpha motoneuron innervating the antagonist M allowing it to RELAX and LENGTHEN
golgi tendon reflex
- also called inverse myotatic reflex and autogenic inhibition
- appearance: sudden (abrupt) relaxation of a contracted M
- purpose: protect M from damage due to excessive force
- chracteristics:
- initiated by the golgi tendon organ
- polysynaptic, segmental reflex–more than one synapse, but afferent and efferent come out the same segment