Motor Control Notes: Autonomic States, Movement, and Sensory Feedback

Vocabulary flashcards covering autonomic states, movement control, cerebellar involvement, gait, and orienting reflex based on the notes.

Sympathetic nervous system

Division of the autonomic nervous system associated with 'fight or flight' responses; described as one side of the autonomic switch in the notes.

Parasympathetic nervous system

Division of the autonomic nervous system associated with rest-and-digest functions; the other side of the autonomic switch described in the notes.

Movement initiation

The process of starting a motor action from rest; the notes indicate deficits are not here.

Ballistic motion

An initial movement toward a target that is largely preplanned with minimal immediate sensory feedback.

End-point fine-tuning

The precision adjustment made at the end of a movement (e.g., touching a finger) using sensory feedback.

Sensory feedback

Information from senses used to monitor and adjust ongoing movements.

Cerebellum

Brain region that uses sensory feedback to coordinate and fine-tune movements; important for timing and accuracy.

Gait ataxia

Uncoordinated, unsteady walking due to impaired coordination and/or sensory processing.

Sensorimotor noise

Random fluctuations in sensory input and motor output that necessitate ongoing feedback corrections.

Oriented reflex

Innate tendency to move the face and eyes toward an unexpected stimulus in the environment.