Muscles and brain Flashcards
What does the motor cortex do?
The motor cortex is responsible for controlling the muscles to create movement.
How is the motorcortex organised?
It is devidied into different parts, each being responsible for different regions of the body. The right hemisphere of the brain controls the left part of the body, and vice versa.
What is the somatosensory coretx?
It is responsible for sensations, for example cold, pain and textures. It also helps us coordinate our body with eyes closed.
How does the somatosensory cortex work?
The skin and muscles have sensory receptors that measure what we feel and send the information to the brain, where the somatosensory cortex processes and interprets sensations.
How is the somatosensory cortex organised?
Similarly to the motor cortex, parts of the brain maps to parts of the body.
What is the homunculus?
The map of the body in the brain.
How is the homunculus organised?
Body parts that are close to each other are mapped close to each other in the brain. Also, body parts capable of more complex movements are assigned bigger resources in the brain.
How are the motor cortex and the somatosensory cortex organised in relation to each other?
Parts responsible for the same body part are located close to each other. For example, the map of the hands in the motor cortex is close to the map of the hands in the somatosensory cortex.
Name 4 reasons why the homunculus is important?
Map movements
Map sensory
Learn by doing
Understand others
Can the honunculus change?
Although the map is very similar in different people, and even in new borns, it can change.
Give 3 examples of when the homunculus change, what is the word for this?
When learning a new skill (ex piano)
When losing a limb (it maps to a new part)
When getting prosthesis (the limb-map comes back)
It is called brain plasticity
What are skeletal muscles, what do they do?
They are muscles connected to the skeleton. Generally, they move body parts such as limbs.
What are antagonist muscles?
Muscles pulling in the opposite direction on the same joint
What are muscles made of?
Muscle fibres
What is a neuron?
“system of biological wires”
