How the brain makes us move

Upper motor neuron control

of brainstem and spinal cord

EXCI-360 Neural
and Hormonal
Control of Human
Systems
Plan
 Intro – the brain deciding to move
 Primary motor cortex organization and physiology
 Frontal lobe further cortices
 Medial influence on posture, lateral influence of fine
movements
 Reticulospinal, vestibulospinal, corticospinal tracts
 Posture and movement
 Conclusions
Closer to the control
module…
 How do we control the motor
apparatus?
 How can we connect with the motor
programs?
 How do we control external elements?

http://home.att.net/~montemusicma
n/TV_The_Six_Million_Dollar_Man_J Kurzweilai.net
an_18_1974.jpg
Figure 17.1 Overview of descending
motor control (Part 1)
Figure 17.1 Overview of descending
motor control (Part 2)
Figure 17.2 Primary motor and
premotor cortices
Figure 17.3 The cytoarchitectonic
appearance of the primary motor cortex
The cortex is a 6 layered structure:
- Layers at the bottom much bigger
than those on the top
- The most important = layer 5 
very enlarged since it is an output
area that sends axons all the way
down to the SC
- Betz cells: specialized to send
axons the longest way down
Figure 17.4 The
corticospinal and
corticobulbar
tracts
Red: Facial components
Yellow: Arm components
Pink: leg components
Figure 17.5 Topographic map of movement
in the primary motor cortex
Primary motor cortex
 Is involved in voluntarily controlled
movements
 Has somatotopic mapping
 When stimulated, provides movement with
the lowest thresholds
 Neurons fire in relation with the production of
force
 Neurons also fire in relation with the direction
of movement
 Movements are represented
Motor map in a somatotopic fashion

- When you stimulate a

specific part of the map,
that part of the body will
move
- The size of the body
part on the map
represents the number
of neurons & the
complexity of control
- Facial area is large
because of the
complexity of speaking
& language control

Bear et al., 2001

 Malleable motor map:
experience shapes the maps
Tested the effects of removing
rat’s whiskers:
- Red = forelimb
- Yellow = muscles in the face
- Purple = whisker control area
- When the animal does not use
their whiskers for a few weeks
 purple area disappears,
motor map changes
- When the whiskers grow back
 map reverts back to initial
state

Bear et al., 2001

Activity: who will have the
greatest finger area?
a) An auto mechanic
b) A typist
c) A hockey player
d) A toll booth money collector
e) A policewoman
f) A bicycle racer
g) An athletic therapist
Box 17A What Do Motor Maps Represent?
- Stimulated an area in the primary motor cortex with long trains of
pulses to see if they could trigger elaborate movements
- Ex. if you trigger the spots in blue, you trigger a reaching movement
 the different colors stimulate different movements
Figure 17.7 Purposeful movements resulting from
prolonged microstimulation of the primary motor
cortex
If you trigger prolonged stimulations, you trigger movements
that come from the outside & end up near the mouth
 In the primary motor cortex, groups of synergistic muscles
are present to produce movement
 The specific muscles used are triggered by the SC
The “Iron Man” mystery
 How can Iron Man
control his armor?
 How does his brain
get access to neural
outputs?
 How does he turn on
and off the repulsors,
the actuators?
Use of a brain machine
interface
 From the
book:
“Inventing
Iron Man”
Box 17B - Minds and Machines
 Figure 17.6 The
influence of
single cortical
upper motor
neurons on
muscle activity
(Part 1)
Corticospinal pathway
Figure 17.6 The influence of single cortical
upper motor neurons on muscle activity
(Part 2)

* AP always precedes
muscle activity in
cortical MN
Figure 17.8 Directional tuning of an upper
motor neuron in the primary motor cortex
(Part 1)
Figure 17.8 Directional tuning of an upper
motor neuron in the primary motor cortex
(Part 2)
Figure 17.8 Directional tuning of an upper
motor neuron in the primary motor cortex
(Part 3)
Figure 17.8 Directional tuning of an upper
motor neuron in the primary motor cortex
(Part 4) - length of line represents how many APs are fired
Figure 17.9 Divisions of the motor cortex
in the macaque monkey brain

Emotional
Self-generated

Stim-triggered
 Figure 17.10 Mirror
motor neuron activity
in a ventral-anterior
sector of the lateral
premotor cortex
- Neurons in pre motor cortex
fire when you see someone
imitating you, but you are
not moving - When the human
- Task was to teach an animal uses a tool to pick
to do a task, they found the up the food,
neuron was firing when the monkey’s neurons
monkey was moving but do not fire since it
also when the experimenter does not understand
was manipulating the food the use of the tool
in front of it
- Mirror motor neurons: fire
when an individual sees
what someone else is doing
 brain is learning how
movement is produced
Question: for which picture of
Laurent the MI representation would
have the longest resulting vector? B

A B

Sportsnet
Sportsnaut
Mirror neurons – the basis of
social interactions?

Nova (PBS)
17.11 Integrated network for reaching

- A tennis player sees the ball coming

 motor response to the stimulation
to plan an action
- Visual areas: perceive the motion &
where the ball is
- Parietal lobe activated when
integrating visual & proprioceptive
signals  where the ball is relative to
me & the racket
- Prefrontal cortex: is it the right time to
hit the ball
- Pre motor areas: plan to see where
the ball is & to get the racket on the
ball
Figure 17.12 Descending projections
from the brainstem to the spinal cord

Vestibulospinal tract:
- From vestibular nuclei in the
brainstem down to the cervical SC
 stimulation triggers adjustment
(head movement or postural
change)

Reticulospinal tract:
- Group of neurons in the reticular
formation (pons to brainstem)
 Send neurons down to axial
musculature to control postural
components
Figure 17.12
The location
of the
reticular
formation
Figure 17.16 Indirect pathways from the
motor cortex to the spinal cord
- Pre motor cortex is there to prepare the
context in which the movement is going to
be produced
 Figure 17.14 & 17.15 Anticipatory
posture – Feedforward and feedback

Pull a lever: first EMG is the gastroc that Corticospinal tract = command to the limb
stabilizes the posture then biceps movement Reticulospinal tract = command for posture

- When we make a movement, the first muscle

contraction is posture  prepare for the
movement & destabilization
- Limb movement & postural adjustment planned
together
- If you move the limb first, you trigger postural
instability which requires readjustment
To differentiate between Upper & Lower
neuron syndrome:
- Both will lose strength
- Lesion in SC = hypoactive reflexes VS.
lesion in cerebral cortex = hyperactive
reflexes
Plantar response:
- normally toes flex down slightly VS.
when someone has a stroke, the cortex
is not monitoring properly & toes fan out
Conclusions
 Cortical and subcortical control on movement
 Great interactions between posture and
movement
 Direction, force in primary motor cortex
 Adding on modules for the more elaborate
elements.