KINE 4500

Neural Control of Movement Neural control of movement

• Kinesiology: study
of movement

• Here we’re
looking at the
control system,
and what can
happen when it
Lecture #1:Introduction to the breaks down
Neural Control of Movement

Basic issues that comprise motor

• KINE 3020: introduction to ‘basics’ of control research
motor neuroscience: what and where
the parts are
• This course: Apply those basics to • Degree of freedom problem
behavioural systems
– e.g. walking, reaching, looking, eye-
hand coordination Do-it-yourself Bernstein demo...
– Emphasis on the neural basis of motor
behaviour

Degree of freedom problem - redundancy in the How do we generate a movement in the

motor system face of all this redundancy?
CORTICAL
STRUCTURES

subcortical
structures /
cerebellum
CONSTRAINTS!
target
acquisition
(“goal”) Î Minimization principles
spinal
circuitry

Î Synergies
MUSCLE
ACTIVATION

Î Mechanical properties
KINETICS
joint torques
forces
force vel.
force accel.

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 Basic issues that comprise motor
Serial order issue
control research
• Serial order problem: how do
we generate a sequence of • Question: where do
movements? we generate a
Î Spoonerisms sequence of
movements?
Î Co-articulation Brain imaging data:
sequence task
Î patient deficits

CORTICAL
STRUCTURES

• “Sequence - Third issue:

subcortical

specific” areas perceptual-motor structures /

cerebellum
target
integration acquisition
activate (“goal”)

spinal
regardless of circuitry

‘effector’ Feedforward -
performing the feedback MUSCLE
ACTIVATION

sequence integration
KINETICS
joint torques
forces
force vel.
force accel.

Perceptual-motor integration Perceptual-motor integration

problem problem

Frame of reference:
• Frame of reference: motor system can
sensory
affect perception as well
information
integrated into
motor plan

The exciting world of the spinal frog

and it’s wipe reflex

2

Skill acquisition
• retention of motor
skills
–Procedural versus
declarative memory
Summary: Issues in motor control
Motor control: The study of how the
nervous system and the periphery function
together to plan and coordinate movement
4 basic issues: degree of freedom
serial order
perceptual-motor integration
skill acquisition
These 4 issues are not independent!!
These three basic issues all assume
that the movements have been
learned !
• Fourth Issue: Skill acquisition
– Innate versus learned
– Motor development and learning
– Retention of motor skills
• Example from 3020: ‘Motor
Consolidation’
– Learning a new motor skill with or without
“interference”
– Can learning a second, similar task at or
about the same time interfere with
learning the first task?
To study these issues:
• Many ways to study motor control
• In this course, we will be surveying
different motor behaviours and their
control using
– Behavioural research
– Physiological research
– Clinical research
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 The study of motor behaviour:
Emphasis: biological basis of motor behaviour
“Psychophysics”
• The measurement of regularities in • Survey the basic structures in the brain
how movements are performed or and periphery that are involved in the
learned coordination and control of movement
• Allows one to indirectly understand
the underlying control system: the • Three types of movement
central nervous system
– Reflex movements
(A lot of the psychophysical findings and
behavioural phenomena have been
covered in 3020) – Rhythmic movements

– Voluntary movements

An example of the problems involved in generating movements: To do this, nervous system has 3 basic levels
a “simple” reaching movement of control:
• The central nervous
CORTICAL
STRUCTURES 1 Cerebral cortex motor areas

system must: subcortical

structures / • motor cortical thalamus
cerebellum Basal
– Contract and relax target
areas ganglia

Sensory receptors
2
acquisition
muscles in a coordinated (“goal”)

way about joints spinal Brain

circuitry cerebellum stem
– Send timed commands to • brainstem and
multiple muscles
– Account for physics, e.g.
sub-cortical Spinal cord
MUSCLE
postural adjustment
– Account for the “motor
ACTIVATION areas
3
plant”: mechanical Other
properties of muscles, KINETICS • spinal cord Muscle contraction
sensory
joints, etc
joint torques
forces
and movement input
force vel.
force accel.

Key concept: coexistence of serial and Review of the basic features of these
parallel processing in the brain three levels of motor control
• Allows “lower”
centres to deal with
reflex movements (3020 recap)
while “higher”
structures can just
give more general
commands
– (If not, would have
‘basic lives’)
• Meanwhile, parallel
organization adds
efficiency source: http://www9.biostr.washington.edu/cgi-bin/DA/imageform

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 Dorsal - towards back
Spinal cord • Gray matter: Cell bodies
of interneurons and
• Contains neuronal circuits for motor neurons
stereotyped and automatic movements – ventral horns: cell
bodies of motor
• Consists of gray matter and white matter neurons located in
the ventral gray
matter
• White matter: axons of
other neurons coursing
up and down the cord
• All motor commands
eventually converge on
motor neurons
– “final common Ventral - towards front
Kandel et al. Essentials of neural science and behaviour, 1995, Fig. 26-3
pathway” Kandel et al. Principles of Neural Science, 2000, Fig.33-13

Spinal motor neurons execute

movement
• Motor nuclei:clusters of motor
neurons that innervate
individual muscles

• Motor nuclei follow 2 important

rules
–proximal distal rule
–flexor extensor rule Kandel et al. Essentials of neural science and behaviour, 1995, Fig. 26-3

The brain stem modulates the action of Brainstem-spinal cord projections fall into
spinal motor circuits two categories:

contains • Medial brainstem

motor nuclei pathways
to facial – concerned with
muscles and control of posture
many groups – three major tracts
of neurons • vestibulospinal
that project to • reticulospinal
the spinal • tectospinal
gray matter source: http://www9.biostr.washington.edu/cgi-bin/DA/imageform

Kandel et al. Essentials of neural science and behaviour, 1995, Fig. 26-4

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 Second category: lateral brainstem pathways Cerebral cortex modulates the action of motor
neurons in the brain stem and spinal cord

• Concerned with goal-

directed limb • Control
movements signals from
– projections terminate
cortical motor
on dorsolateral part of
spinal gray matter areas control
complex and
precision
• major tract:
movements
rubrospinal tract
Kandel et al. Essentials of neural science and behaviour, 1995, Fig. 26-4 Kandel et al. Principles of Neural Science, 2000, Fig.38-1

lateral ventral
Kandel et al. Essentials of neural science and behaviour, 1995, Fig. 26-5
Cortical motor commands descend on spinal motor
neurons directly and indirectly

• Indirect influence via action on brainstem

pathways
• 2 direct descending tracts
– corticobulbar
– corticospinal
• largest descending tract from the brain
• 75% of fibres cross midline to form lateral corticospinal
tract
• 25% uncrossed fibres form ventral corticospinal tract

Motor cortex and brainstem also Summary: Neural control of movement

influenced by subcortical structures • Behaviour involves movement, which in turn
• cerebellum depends on timed contraction of muscles,
controlled by central motor systems

• These systems are hierarchically organized,

but function in parallel as well for efficiency

• Different components of the motor system

carry out distinct but interrelated functions

• basal ganglia