Chapter 8

Movement
 Topics
Skeletal Muscle
Spinal Cord Reflexes
Brain Mechanisms!
“Complex” Motor Behavior
Deficits in Movement
 Topics
Skeletal Muscle
Spinal Cord Reflexes
Brain Mechanisms!
“Complex” Motor Behavior
Deficits in Movement
 Topics
Skeletal Muscle
Control of Movement by Spinal Cord
Control of Movement by Brain!
“Complex” Motor Behavior
Deficits in Movement
 Skeletal Muscle
• Skeletal muscles move us
around and are responsible for
physical actions
• Attached to bones by tendons
• Usually paired opposites:
Flexors: bring limb toward body
Extensors: move limbs away

• Note: muscles contract (not

“flex”)
 Skeletal Muscle
• Within muscles, two types of
muscle fibers
Extrafusal muscle fibers
- main working muscle (strength)
- contracted by alpha motor
neurons
Intrafusal muscle fibers
- detect length of muscle
(sensory axons)
- contracted by gamma motor
neurons
 Skeletal Muscle
• Also: Golgi Tendon Organs in tendons, detect tension on
muscles
• Note also: free nerve endings and Pacinian corpuscles
 Skeletal Muscle
• Skeletal muscles fibres are
comprised of overlapping
actin and myosin filaments
• Gives striated appearance
 Skeletal Muscle
• During contraction actin and
myosin filaments slide past
each other due to rowing
action of cross bridges
 Skeletal Muscle
Neuromuscular Junction
• Motor neurons synapse on motor endplates of muscles and
release when ACH
• Single motor neuron usually activates several muscle fibres
(10s to 100s), collectively referred to as a motor unit
• Strength of a muscular contraction is determined by the
average rate of firing of various motor units
 Skeletal Muscle
Neuromuscular Junction
 Skeletal Muscle
Sensory Feedback
• Intrafusal muscle fibers contain
sensory endings that are
sensitive to stretch… actually
length of muscle
– Can mediate quick spinal
reflexes when muscle
suddenly lengthens
• Also, golgi tendon organs
detect total amount of tension
on muscle
– Also contributes to reflexes
(e.g., maintain balance)
tendon
 Topics
Skeletal Muscle
Spinal Cord Reflexes
Brain Mechanisms!
“Complex” Motor Behavior
Deficits in Movement
 Spinal Cord Reflexes
Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex
• Example
 Spinal Cord Reflexes
Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex
• Controls/corrects limb movements in response to muscle being
quickly stretched (posture and maintaining body positions)
• Sensory afferents from intrafusal muscle synapse on and
activate alpha motor neurons in spinal cord that project back to
extrafusal fibres of same muscle (contracts muscle)
 Spinal Cord Reflexes
Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex
• Only one synapse!
 Spinal Cord Reflexes
Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex
• Another Example
 Spinal Cord Reflexes
Monosynaptic Stretch Reflex
• Yet Another Example
 Spinal Cord Reflexes
Polysynaptic Reflexes
• Involves GTOs which send inputs to spinal cord which inhibit*
inhibitory interneurons (hence “poly” synaptic)
• If sudden tension on muscle, lead to quick contraction to
oppose it.

• *GTOs may also stimulate inhibitory interneurons when too

much tension, leading to inhibition of alpha motor neurons
 Spinal Cord Reflexes
Polysynaptic Inhibitory Reflex

Two Synapses
 Topics
Skeletal Muscle
Spinal Cord Reflexes
Brain Mechanisms!
“Complex” Motor Behavior
Deficits in Movement
 Brain Mechanisms
Cortical Structures
Primary Motor Cortex
Motor Association Cortex
Supplemental Motor Area
Premotor Cortex
Descending Pathways
Sub-Cortical Structures
Reticular formation
Cerebellum
Basal Ganglia
 Brain Mechanisms
Cortical Structures
Primary Motor Cortex
Motor Association Cortex
Supplemental Motor Area
Premotor Cortex
Descending Pathways
Sub-Cortical Structures
Reticular formation
Cerebellum
Basal Ganglia
 Brain Mechanisms
Primary Motor Cortex
- Located precentral gyrus
(posterior frontal lobe)
- Responsible for causing
movements of particular parts of
the body (opposite side of body)
- Each movement caused by
contraction of several muscles
- Shows somatotopic organization
 Brain Mechanisms
Primary Motor Homunculus
 Brain Mechanisms
Primary Motor Cortex
• Complex neural circuitry located
between neurons in primary
motor cortex and motor neurons
in spinal cord
• Sustained stimulation of regions
of the motor cortex leads to
categories of behavior (complex
movements)
• Examples: fling arms up
seemingly to protect face
 Brain Mechanisms
Motor Association Cortex
• Anterior to the motor cortex
• Involved in planning movements
• Receive highly processed inputs
from visual systems (dorsal and
ventral streams) and other senses
• Supplementary motor area (medial)
and premotor cortex (lateral)
• Become active when executing
sequences of movements (even
when imagining or watching others)
• Projects to motor cortex
 Brain Mechanisms
Supplementary Motor Area (SMA)
• Crucial role in behavioral sequences
• Links together series of learned
behaviors
Example: Monkeys trained on 3
See Fig 8.12
successive task: push, pull, then turn.
If supplemental cortex is inhibited, may
initiate first behavior, but stop (as
though don’t know what next behavior
should be)
Same results with humans trained to
press series of keys on piano. If SMA
disrupted, stop after present key is
pressed (don’t know what comes next)
 Brain Mechanisms
Premotor Cortex
• Involved in learning and
completing movements cued by
sensory information
• Particularly, those involving
arbitrary stimuli
• Example: Monkey trained to
move hand left or right direction,
depending on: 1) location of cue
(non-arbitrary) or 2) color of light
in middle of visual field (arbitrary)
• Disruption affected arbitrary
condition
 Brain Mechanisms
Cortical Structures
Primary Motor Cortex
Motor Association Cortex
Supplemental Motor Area
Premotor Cortex
Descending Pathways
Sub-Cortical Structures
Reticular formation
Cerebellum
Basal Ganglia
 Brain Mechanisms
Descending Motor Pathways
• Two groups: defined by relative location in spinal cord
Ventromedial Group
• Controls muscles in trunk of body and limbs close to body
• Mostly for balance and coordinated movements (e.g.,
locomotion)
• Receives inputs from reticular formation, vestibular system,
visual system (tectum)
Lateral Group
• Controls independent limb movements
• Hands and fingers; face and tongue
• Inputs from motor cortex
 Brain Mechanisms
Descending Pathways
• Ventromedial Group
– Vestibulospinal tract: From
vestibular nucleus to spinal cord
• balance/posture
– Tectospinal tract: from superior
colliculus (visual information)
• Coordinates head, trunk and eye
movements
– Reticulospinal tract from reticular
formation
• Controls muscle tone (some
reflexes, sneezing, coughing)
 Brain Mechanisms
Descending Pathways
• Lateral Group
– Corticospinal tract: from motor cortex
• Hand and finger movements
• Note: descends as pyramidal tract then to
spine
– Corticobulbar tract: also from motor
cortex
• Face and tongue movements
• Descends to motor nuclei of cranial nerves in
medulla
– Rubrospinal tract: from red nucleus in
midbrain
• Inputs from motor cortex and cerebellum
(forearms and hand, not fingers)
 Brain Mechanisms
Cortical Structures
Primary Motor Cortex
Motor Association Cortex
Supplemental Motor Area
Premotor Cortex
Descending Pathways
Sub-Cortical Structures
Reticular formation
Cerebellum
Basal Ganglia
 Brain Mechanisms
Reticular Formation
• Origen of reticulospinal tract
• Controls activity of gamma motor
system, regulates muscle tonus
• Pons and medulla—specific motor
functions and reflexes like
sneezing and coughing
• Also role in locomotion
(mesencephalic locomotor
region), e.g. pacing
 Brain Mechanisms
Cerebellum
• 80% of all brain neurons!
• Outputs project to every major
motor structure
• Important for balance/posture,
and timing of rapid and/or
sequential movements
 Brain Mechanisms
Cerebellum
• Two hemispheres
• Cortex and underlying “deep
nuclei” (e.g., fastigial nucleus,
dentate nucleus)
• Vermis: located in medial region
• Flocculonodular lobe located in
the posterior
• Two functional divisions:
Medial and Lateral Zones
 Brain Mechanisms
Cerebellum
Medial Zone: (older)
• Control ventromedial motor
pathways
• Generally controls muscles in
trunk of body, and limbs
close to body)
• Inputs to vermis from tectum
and spinal cord
• Outputs to fastigial nucleus
then on to reticulospinal
(muscle tone, etc) and
vestibulospinal (balance).
 Brain Mechanisms
Cerebellum
Lateral Zone: Controls lateral group
motor pathways
• Independent limb movements,
especially rapid skilled movements!!!
• Movements initiated by frontal cortex
but frontal lobe lacks the neural
circuitry needed to make precisely
timed movements of muscles…
• so message about impending
movements is sent to cerebellum,
which makes the calculations and
sends signals back to motor cortex for
precise movements.
 Brain Mechanisms
Cerebellum (Lateral Zone)
• Frontal cortex sends info about
intended movements to the lateral
zone of cerebellum via the pontine
nucleus.
• Signals then sent to dentate nucleus
(a deep nuclei) of cerebellum which
projects back to motor cortex via
the ventrolateral thalamus
• Motor cortex then projects to spinal
via corticospinal tract
• Outputs from dentate also sent to
Red Nucleus (rubrospinal tract)
 Brain Mechanisms
Cerebellum (Lateral Zone)
• Damage to this area causes disjointed
movements (not smooth sequence).
• Also, severe effects on timing of rapid
ballistic movements, like throwing a ball…
when to release, etc., severely affected.
• Slow movements remain intact (see p 239
Mr. P)
• Note: neurons in dentate predict next
movement in a sequence.
• Neurological test: Have someone rotate
hand in front of face. Alternatively
quickly touch their hand and your own,
say, chin.
 Brain Mechanisms
Basal Ganglia
• Receive input from various
regions of the cerebral cortex and
the substantia nigra
• Influence movements under
control of the primary motor
cortex and exert some direct
control over ventromedial system
• Control some inhibition of
unwanted movements
• Neurodegenerative disorders of
the basal ganglia include
Parkinson’s disease and
Huntington’s disease
 Brain Mechanisms
Basal Ganglia
Three Pathways:
1. Direct Pathway: from
caudate/putamen to internal
globus pallidus (GPi), then back
to motor cortex (excitatory)
2. Indirect Pathway: first to
external globus pallidus, then to
GPi via subthalamic n., then back
to motor cortex (inhibitory)
3. Hyperdirect Pathway: from pre-
SMA cortex to subthalamic n., to
GPi and back to cortex (inhibitory
– but faster)
 Brain Mechanisms
Basal Ganglia
Substantia Nigra:
• Basal Ganglia pathways are regulated by dopamine from the
substantia nigra (midbrain):
• D1 receptors are excitatory, D2 receptors are inhibitory
• Parkinson’s Disease results from depletion of DA here:
– poverty of movement (difficulty initiating movement)
– resting tremors
 Brain Mechanisms
Basal Ganglia
• Huntington’s Disease: characterized by uncontrollable
movements and difficulty in ceasing movement (opposite
Parkinson’s)
• Due to loss of inhibitory GABA (and ACH) in caudate and
putamen which increases Gpe, leading to decreased
activity in GPi (and loss of inhibition of motor cortex)
 Topics
Skeletal Muscle
Spinal Cord Reflexes
Brain Mechanisms!
“Complex” Motor Behavior
Deficits in Movement
 Complex Motor Behavior
Imitating Motor Behavior
• Mirror Neuron circuitry
• Involves rostral part of the
inferior parietal lobule (parietal
lobe) and the ventral premotor
area (frontal lobe)
• Responds when an individual
engages in, observes, or hears a
behavior (especially ones in
which we are already
competent!)
• Helps us understand and imitate
the actions of others
 Complex Motor Behavior
Mirror Neurons
• Neurons in ventral premotor
cortex (called F5) become
activated in monkeys when
watching a human reach and
grasp an object.
• Note: mirror neurons fire even
when monkey does not move its
hand.
 Complex Motor Behavior
Mirror Neurons
 Topics
Skeletal Muscle
Spinal Cord Reflexes
Brain Mechanisms!
“Complex” Motor Behavior
Deficits in Movement
 Deficits in Movement
Apraxia (Dyspraxia)
• Problems with organizing
movements in otherwise familiar
tasks (e.g., drawing, tool use, hand
writing)
• Produced by lesions of frontal or
parietal lobes
• Construction Apraxia: Deficit in
ability to perceive and imagine
geometrical relations; results in
trouble drawing pictures or
constructing models or structures
(can use objects properly)