Note: Very Important Info, Important Info, Other Detailed Info,  Our muscle types range from fast-twitch

ast-twitch fibers which are

Key Terms or Topic, Etymology, (Example), Steps in a anaerobic with fast contractions and rapid fatigue to slow-twitch
Process fibers which are aerobic with less vigorous contractions and no
fatigue.
Chapter 7: Movement  A proprioceptor is a receptor that detects the position or
movement of a part of the body. (Latin: proprius, meaning one’s
7.1 The Control of Movement own)
 The purpose of a brain is to control behaviors, and behaviors are
 Stretch reflex is caused by a stretch; it does not produce one.
movements.
 Muscle spindle is a receptor parallel to the muscle that responds
 Vertebrae muscle have 3 categories:
to a stretch; this is a negative feedback.
 Smooth muscles that control the digestive system and other
 Golgi tendon organs respond to increases in muscle tension.
organs.
Located in the tendons at opposite ends of a muscle, they act as
 Skeletal or striated muscles that control movement of the
a brake against an excessively vigorous contraction.
body in relation to the environment.
 The brain reacts to sensations that differ from its expectations or
 Cardiac muscles that control the heart.
predictions.
 Each muscle fiber receives information from only one axon, a
 Reflexes are consistent automatic responses to stimuli.
given axon may innervate more than one muscle fiber.
 Ballistic movement is an action that if initiated, cannot be
 A neuromuscular junction is a synapse between a motor
altered (Ex: reflex)
neuron axon and a muscle fiber.
 Central pattern generators are neural mechanisms in the spinal
 Acetylcholine is released by axons at the neuromuscular junction
cord that generate rhythmic patterns of motor output (Ex: wing
in skeletal muscles. A deficit of this or its receptors impairs
flapping)
movement.
 Motor program is a fixed sequence of movements. This can be
 Each movement make just one movement, a contraction. There
gained or lost through evolution. (Ex: yawning in humans)
is no message for relaxation; the muscle relaxes when it receives
 Charles Sherrington described a motor neuron as the final
no message.
common path.
 There is no message to move a muscle in an opposite direction.
Instead, it requires opposing sets of muscles, called
7.2 Brain Mechanisms of Movement
antagonistic muscles. (Ex: your flexor brings up your hand  Primary motor cortex is the precentral gyrus of the frontal cortex,
toward your shoulder and your extensor muscle straightens the just anterior to the central sulcus. Direct electrical stimulation of
arm.) this elicits movements according to neuroscientists who have
followed the works of pioneers Gustav Fritsch and Eduard Hitzig.
 The cerebral cortex is important for complex actions like talking or Quadriplegia Loss of sensation and Cut through the spinal
writing. (or voluntary muscle cord in the cervical (neck)
 The motor cortex orders an outcome and not a certain muscle tetraplegia) control in both arms region (or cortical
movement. and legs damage)
 Posterior parietal cortex monitors the position of the body Hemiplegia Loss of sensation and Cut halfway through the
relative to the world; one of the first areas to become active in voluntary muscle spinal cord or damage to
planning a movement. When these parts are stimulated, people control in the arm and one hemisphere of the
report an intention to move. Its functions are sensory, cognitive, leg of either the right or cerebral cortex
and motor. left side
 The supplementary motor cortex inhibits a habitual action Tabes impaired sensations Damage to the dorsal
when it is inappropriate. dorsalis and muscle control in roots of the spinal cord
 The premotor cortex is most active immediately before a the legs and pelvic from the late stage of
movement. It receives information about the target to which the region, including bowel syphilis
body is directing its movement, as well as the information on the and bladder control
body’s current position and posture. Poliomyelitis Paralysis A virus that damages
 The prefrontal cortex stores information relevant to a movement motor neurons in the
and considers possible outcomes of a movement. spinal cord
 Antisaccade task is used for investigating the voluntary and Amyotrophic Gradual weakness and Unknown. Traced to
flexible control of movement. Saccade is a voluntary eye lateral paralysis, starting with genetic mutations in some
movement from one target to another. sclerosis the arms and spreading cases, and to exposure to
 Mirror neurons are active both during a preparation of a to the legs toxins in other cases
movement, watching someone else perform a similar movement,
and by any reminder of an action. They develop their original
 Corticospinal tracts are paths from the cerebral cortex to the
properties and modify these by learning.
spinal cord. There are 2 of this namely:
DISORDER DESCRIPTION CAUSE  Lateral corticospinal tract is a pathway of axons from the
Paralysis Inability for voluntary Damage to motor neurons primary motor cortex, surrounding areas of the cortex, and from
movement or their axons the red nucleus—a midbrain area that controls certain aspects
Paraplegia Loss of sensation and A cut through the spinal of movement. It is also called pyramidal tract because in bulges
voluntary muscle cord in the thoracic region of the medulla called pyramids, it crosses to the contralateral
control in the legs or lower
 side of the spinal cord. It controls movements in peripheral
areas, especially hands and feet.
 Medial corticospinal tract includes axons not just the primary
motor cortex and its surrounding areas but also includes axons
from the midbrain tectum, the reticular formation, and the
vestibular nucleus—a brain area that receives input from the
vestibular system. It controls trunk movements bilaterally.
 The cerebellum (Latin: cerebellum, meaning little brain) is
important in balance and coordination, as well as anything related
to aim or timing. It has more neurons than the rest of the brain
combined and a huge number of synapses.
 The cerebellum is one of the first brain area that alcohol affects.
 The cerebellum responds to sensory stimuli even in the absence
of movement. It also responds to violations of sensory
expectations.
 Richard Ivry and his colleagues have emphasized the importance
of the cerebellum for behaviors that depend on precise timing of
short intervals.
 Cerebellar cortex is the surface of the cerebellum.
 The Purkinje cells are flat cells in sequential planes parallel to
one another.
 The parallel fibers are axons parallel to one another and
perpendicular to the planes of Purkinje cells.
 Nuclei of the cerebellum is clusters of cell bodies in the interior
of the cerebellum.
 As a larger number of parallel fibers become active, the Purkinje
cells increase their duration of response.
 The basal ganglia applies collectively to a group of large
subcortical structures in the forebrain. It includes the following:
 Caudate nucleus
 Putamen
 Globus palligus
 Caudate nucleus and putamen together are known as striatum
or dorsal striatum. It receives input from the cerebral cortex and
substantia nigra and sends its output to the globus pallidus, which
then sends output to the thalamus and frontal cortex.
 There are 2 pathways to the basal ganglia:
 Direct pathway enhances the selected movement
 Indirect pathway inhibits inappropriate competing
movements
 The basal ganglia is important for spontaneous, self-initiated
behaviors which are generally slower than those in response to a
stimulus. This is because a reaction to a stimulus is faster than a
spontaneous movement.
 The basal ganglia’s role is to regulate the vigor of a movement.
 The basal ganglia is critical for learning new habits, especially
those that are difficult to describe in words.
 Readiness potential is produced by the motor cortex and begins
500 ms before any voluntary movement.
 Results indicate that your conscious decision does not cause
your action. Rather, you become conscious of the decision after
the process leading to action has already been underway for
about 300 ms. Thus, what we identify as a conscious decision is
the perception of a gradual brain process.
7.3 Movement Disorders
 Parkinson’s disease results from the gradual loss of
dopamine-releasing axons from the substantia nigra to the
striatum. It primary results are rigidity, muscle tremors, slow
movements, and difficulty initiating voluntary activity.
 Causes of Parkinson’s disease include the following:
  Starts with the substantia nigra. Researchers have identified  The more repetitions of C-A-G, the earlier the probable onset of
at least 28 gene variants that increase the risk of this the disease.
disease.
 Exposure to toxins. The substance responsible for the
symptoms was MPTP is a chemical that the body converts to
MPP+, which accumulates in, and then destroys, neurons
that release dopamine, partly by impairing the transport of
mitochondria from the cell body to the synapse.
 Therapies for Parkinson’s disease both in-practice and
in-experimental stage:
 L-dopa is a precursor to dopamine that can cross the
blood-brain barrier. It is the most common treatment for
Parkinson’s disease.
 Drugs that directly stimulate dopamine receptors and drugs
that block the metabolic breakdown of dopamine.
 In advanced cases, physicians implant electrodes to
stimulate areas deep in the brain.
 Transplant of tissues into the damaged brains (Ex: from
adrenal glands or from fetuses).
 Take stem cells, immature cells that are capable of
differentiating into other cell types, guide their development
so that they produce large quantities of L-dopa, and then
transplant it to the brain.
 Huntington’s disease or Huntington’s chorea (Chorea comes
from the root of choreography, in which the rhythmic writhing
resembles dancing) is characterized by tremors that develop into
writhing.
 Unlike other disorders, one gene is responsible for the
development of Huntington’s disease and that is an autosomal
dominant gene found in chromosome number 4. With this, an
examination can reveal with almost perfect accuracy whether or
not an individual will acquire this disease or not.
 Huntingtin is the protein that is coded by the gene for the
disease.