Module 1 - Introduction to Motor Control

What is Motor Control?

Ability to regulate or direct the mechanisms essential to movement

Individual factors of movement include:

Action/motor system, Perception/sensory system, Cognition

Task constraints include:

Postural control, Mobility, Upper-extremity function

What are discrete tasks?

Tasks that have a recognizable beginning and end

What are continuous tasks?

Tasks where the end point of the task is not an inherent characteristic of the task but is decided arbitrarily by the performer

What is an open task?

Tasks that require the performer to adapt movement strategies to a constantly changing and often unpredictable environment

What is a closed task?

Tasks that are performed in relatively fixed or predictable environments

Stability vs mobility tasks

Tasks that are performed with a nonmoving base of support vs tasks that require moving the base of support

Manipulation vs. non-manipulation tasks

Tasks that involve movement of the upper extremities

Environmental constraints to movement

Regulatory vs nonregulatory

What is a regulatory constraint?

A task where the movement must conform to regulatory features of the environment to achieve the task goal (step height)

What is a non-regulatory constraint?

A constraint that may affect performance, but the movement does not have to conform to the feature (background noise)