Motor Cortical Control Flashcards
what kind of organisation exists in the motor system?
functional segregation
Motor system organized in a number of different areas that control different aspects of movement
hierarchical organisation depending on complexity of tasks (higher order control programme and decide movement and lower excecute tasks)
where does information from the primary motor cortex pass to?
basal ganglia, cerebellum, thalamus, spinal cord and brainstem
- brainstem → muscles of head, neck, facespinal cord → rest of muscles
what muscles do motor information in the brainstem get passed to? what about the spinal cord?
brainstem → muscles of head, neck, face
spinal cord → rest of muscles
what do the basal ganglia and cerebellum do?
adjust the commands received from other parts of the motor control system
what are the pyramidal tracts?
corticospinal and corticobulbar
extrapyramidal tracts?
vestibulospinal, tectospinal, reticulospinal, rubrospinal
Are extrapyramidal tracts ascending or descending
Descending
what makes something pyramidal/extrapyramidal?
either pass through pyramids of medulla or don’t
functional differences - what do pyramidal do?
voluntary movements of body and face (motor cortex → cranial nerve nuclei or spinal cord)
functional differences - what do extrapyramidal do?
involuntary movements for posture, balance and locomotion
Brainstem nuclei to spinal cord
Corticospinal tract
Passes down lateral corticospinal tract or anterior corticospinal tract
Decussation occurs where most go to lateral
Lateral control limb muscles anterior control trunk
corticobulbar function?
movements of face and neck → cranial nerve nuclei
vestibulospinal function?
stabilise head during body movement , coordinate head movement with eye movement, postural adjustments
reticulospinal function?
Muscle tone changes with voluntary movement
postural stability
Primitive descending tact
From medulla and pons
tectospinal function?
orientation of head and neck during eye movements
From superior colliculus of midbrain
Rubrospinal
Innervate lower motor neurons of flexors of the Upper limb
From red nucleus of the
Mainly taken over by corticospinal tract
negative signs of upper motor neuron lesion?
loss of voluntary motor function
paresis (graded weakness of movements)
paralysis-complete loss of movement
Positive signs of upper motor lesions
- spasticityincreased muscle tone
- hyperreflexiaexaggerated reflexes
- clonusabnormal oscillatory muscle contraction
- babinski’s signabnormal upward curling of big toe (normal in infants but not adults) on stimulation
increased abnormal motor function due to loss of inhibitory descending inputs
Apraxia
Loss of skilled movement (loss of info is not paretic)
Have lost info about how to perform skilled movement
Common cause of apraxia
Stroke and dementia
Lesions of inferior parietal lobe ,frontal lobe (premotor cortex,supplementary motor area)
signs of lower motor tract lesion
hypotonia, hyporeflexia, muscle atrophy,weakness
- fasciculationsdamaged motor units → spontaneous action potentials → visible twitch
- fibrillationstwitching of individual muscle fibres recorded during needle electromyography
what are dysarthria and dysphagia?
Difficulty speaking or swallowing