Week 7: Motor Control & Motor Learning

Vocabulary flashcards covering the neuroanatomical structures, feedback mechanisms, and systems underlying motor control and motor learning.

Motor Control

The coordination of CNS and PNS sensory, motor, and proprioceptive information alongside muscle and joint movements to perform a desired motor action.

Closed-Loop System

A motor control system where movement is continuously adjusted using ongoing sensory, proprioceptive, and environmental feedback; best suited for slower or continuous actions.

Open-Loop Feedforward System

A pre-programmed motor control system in which rapid movements are executed and terminated before conscious sensory feedback and corrections can occur.

Reflexes

Automatic, involuntary motor responses triggered directly by a sensory stimulus that serve as blueprints for the most basic levels of movement.

Central Pattern Generators (CPGs)

Rhythm generators and networks of cells in the spinal cord that generate stereotyped, rhythmic neural activity without descending commands or sensory input.

Primary Motor Cortex

Cortical area organized by the motor homunculus that is responsible for voluntary and conscious movement.

Premotor Area

Cortical region responsible for motor planning and praxis.

Motor Association Area

Prefrontal cortical region responsible for the cognitive planning of movement.

Supplementary Motor Area

Cortical area responsible for the control of posture.

Basal Ganglia

Subcortical structures that regulate stereotypic and automated movement patterns, cognitive timing, and impulse inhibition by determining which movements are allowed or suppressed.

Dopamine (Basal Ganglia)

A neurotransmitter that modulates movement initiation and scaling within basal ganglia circuits.

GABA (Basal Ganglia)

The major inhibitory neurotransmitter in basal ganglia circuits that controls and suppresses unwanted movement.

Acetylcholine (Basal Ganglia)

A neurotransmitter that influences motor output within the basal nuclei circuits.

Cerebellum

Brain structure responsible for coordinating movement, regulating muscle tone, and maintaining posture and equilibrium, as well as non-motor functions like attention shifting and spatial organization.

Error-Correcting Device

A role of the cerebellum characterized by processing proprioceptive input and modifying muscle and joint activity to achieve precise motor control.

Muscle Tone

An unconscious, continuous state of muscle contraction at rest that maintains a balance among muscle groups to assist with postural control.

Hypertonicity (Spinal and Cortical Level)

An increase in muscle tone resulting from the disinhibition of spinal reflexes by the cerebral cortex.

Hypotonicity (Cerebellar Influence)

A reduction in muscle tone associated with involvement or dysfunction of the spinocerebellum.

Motor Learning

The process of improving movement over time through practice and experience to develop stored motor programs, resulting in long-term performance changes.

Intrinsic Feedback

Sensory information originating internally from the body (such as proprioception, touch, and vision) that helps a person understand what normal movement feels like.

Augmented Feedback

External cues provided to a learner from an outside source, such as therapist instructions, verbal feedback, or mirrors.

Constant Practice

A practice method where a single motor skill is repeated continuously until it is mastered.

Variable Practice

A practice method where motor patterns are modified and varied in accordance with the changing demands of a specific activity.