4. What are we going to cover today ?
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1) the components of our Nervous
system
a) The neuron
b) The brain
2) Plasticity
a) Neural plasticity
b) Muscle plasticity
c) Cortical plasticity
2) Movement control from neuron to
brain
a) Role of somatosensory system in
movement control
b) Stretch reflex
c) Cortical areas involved in motor
control
d) Basal ganglia
e) cerebellum
6. The Nervous System
皙 The nervous system is a complex collection of nerves and
specialized cells known as neurons that transmit signals
between different parts of the body.
皙 Structurally, the nervous system has two components: the
central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.
皙 Functionally, the nervous system has two main subdivisions: the
somatic, or voluntary, component; and the autonomic, or
involuntary, component.
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7. The Central Nervous system
皙 The CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord.
皙 The brain is the most complex organ in the body
and uses 20 percent of the total oxygen we
breathe in.
皙 The brain consists of an estimated 100 billion
neurons, with each connected to thousands more.
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8. The Peripheral Nervous system
The term peripheral nervous system (PNS) refers to any part
of the nervous system that lies outside of the brain and
spinal cord. The CNS is separate from the peripheral nervous
system, although the two systems are interconnected.
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9. The Neuron
皙 Neurons are cells within the nervous system that transmit
information to other nerve cells, muscle, or gland cells. Most
neurons have a cell body, an axon, and dendrites.
皙 Dendrites extend from the neuron cell body and receive
messages from other neurons. Synapses are the contact points
where one neuron communicates with another.
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11. 皙 When neurons receive or send messages, they transmit electrical
impulses along their axons, which can range in length from a tiny
fraction of an inch (or centimeter) to three feet (about one meter) or
more.
皙 Many axons are covered wit the myelin sheath, which accelerates the
transmission of electrical signals along the axon. This sheath is made by
specialized cells called glia. In the brain, the glia that make the sheath
are called oligodendrocytes, and in the peripheral nervous system, they
are known as Schwann cells.
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15. Neuroplasticity
皙 The capacity of the nervous system to change is demonstrated in
children during the development of neural circuits, and in the
adult brain, during the learning of new skills, establishment of new
memories, and by responding to injury throughout life.
皙 Learning an activity is synapse and circuit specific, and can be
modified with synaptic transmission being either facilitated
(strengthened) or depressed (weakened).
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17. Cortical plasticity
皙 Cortical representation areas have been found to be
modified by sensory input, experience and learning, as
well as in response to brain injury.
皙 Cortical areas response to changing input which can
either be upgraded or downgraded, such as remapping
in subjects following amputation, where there is a
reduced representation of the affected area and an
increase of representation of adjacent areas within the
cortex
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18. Muscle plasticity
皙 Like neuroplasticity, the adaptability of muscle has been
investigated extensively. Skeletal muscle is one of the most
plastic tissues in the human body
皙 Every structural aspect of muscle, such as its architecture, gene
expression, fiber type distribution, number and distribution of
alpha motor units and much more.
皙 With an increased demand there is a shift from fast to slow fiber
types, an increase in size and number of mitochondria and an
increase of the capillary density with an overall hypertrophy of
the muscle
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21. 皙 Motor control, the ability to maintain and change posture
and movement.
皙 Movement arises from the interaction of perception and
action systems, with cognition affecting both systems at
many different levels..
皙 Movement control is achieved through the cooperative
effort of many brain structures that are organized both
hierarchically and in parallel.
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22. Role of somatosensory system in
movement control
皙 Sensory inputs serve as the stimuli for reflexive
movement organized at the spinal cord level of the
nervous system.
皙 sensory information has a vital role in modulating the
output of movement that results from the activity of
pattern generators in the spinal cord (e.g., locomotor
pattern generators).
23. 皙 Another role of sensory information in movement
control is accomplished via ascending pathways,
which contribute to the control of movement in
much more complex ways.
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27. Muscle Spindle
皙 encapsulated spindle-shaped sensory receptors located in
the muscle belly of skeletal muscles.
皙 They consist of
a) Specialized very small muscle fibers, called intrafusal
fibers (nuclear chain and nuclear bag fibers)
b) Sensory neuron endings (group Ia and group II afferents)
that wrap around the central regions of these small
intrafusal muscle fibers.
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28. c) gamma motor neuron endings that activate the polar
contractile regions of the intrafusal muscle fibers.
皙 Muscle spindles detect both muscle length and changes in
muscle length, and along with the monosynaptic reflex,
help to finely regulate muscle length during movement.
皙 the highest spindle density (spindles per muscle) are in the
extraocular, hand, and neck muscles.
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29. Golgi Tendon Organs
皙 Golgi tendon organs (GTOs) are spindle-shaped and are
located at the muscle-tendon junction.
皙 The GTO is sensitive to tension changes that result from
either stretch or contraction of the muscle. The GTO
responds to as little as 2 to 25 g of force.
皙 The GTO reflex is an inhibitory disynaptic reflex,
inhibiting its own muscle and exciting its antagonist.
皙 Afferent information from the GTO is carried to the
nervous system via the Ib afferent fibers.
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31. Gamma Motor Neurons
皙 Both the bag and chain muscle fibers are activated
by axons of the gamma motor neurons.
皙 It changes the sensitivity of the muscle spindle ( the
stretch receptor ) and therefore prevents the
unloading.
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35. Role of stretch reflex in movement
control
1. Servo-assist function during muscle contraction by the
alpha-gamma link
2. Damping function (smoothness of contraction)
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37. Cortical areas involved in motor control
皙 Primary motor cortex and two other areas including:
a) The supplementary motor area (SMA)
b) The premotor cortex
皙 They also interact with sensory processing areas in the parietal
lobe, basal ganglia and cerebellar areas to identify where we
want to move, to plan the movement, and finally, to execute
our actions
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38. 皙 All three of these areas have their own somatotopic
maps of the body.
皙 Inputs to the motor areas come from the basal ganglia,
the cerebellum, and sensory areas, including the
periphery (via the thalamus), SI, and sensory association
areas in the parietal lobe.
皙 MI neurons receive sensory inputs from their own
muscles and also from the skin above the muscles.
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39. 皙 Outputs from the primary motor cortex contribute to the
corticospinal tract (also called the pyramidal tract)
皙 The corticospinal tract includes neurons from primary motor
cortex (about 50%), and premotor areas including supplementary
motor cortex, and even somatosensory cortex.
皙 The fibers descend ipsilaterally, (90%) cross to form the lateral
corticospinal tract, controlling precise movements of the distal
muscles of the limbs.
皙 The remaining 10% continue uncrossed to form the anterior ( or
ventral) corticospinal tract, controlling less precise movements
of the proximal muscles of the limbs and trunk.
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40. 皙 The majority of the anterior corticospinal neurons cross just
before they terminate in the ventral horn of the spinal cord.
皙 It has been shown that specific neurons in the cortex, activated
when we pick up an object, may remain totally silent when we
make a similar movement, such as a gesture in anger.
皙 Simply by training a patient to utilize a specific set of muscles to
make a particular movement in one situation does not
automatically mean that the training will transfer to all other
activities requiring the same set of muscles
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42. Supplementary Motor Area
皙 Movements that are initiated internally are controlled primarily
by the SMA.
皙 This area also contributes to activating the motor programs
involved in learned sequences.
皙 Interestingly, the SMA receives inputs from the putamen of the
basal ganglia complex.
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43. Premotor Area
皙 Movements that are activated by external stimuli (e.g., a visual
cue such as a traffic light changing from red to green) are
controlled primarily by the premotor area. It receives inputs
from the cerebellum.
皙 Nerve signals generated in the premotor area cause much
more complex patterns of movement than the discrete
patterns generated in the primary motor cortex.
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44. 皙 A special class of neurons called mirror neurons becomes active
when a person performs a specific motor task or when he or she
observes the same task performed by others. Thus, the activity
of these neurons mirrors the behavior of another person as
though the observer was performing the specific motor task.
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51. Functions of the basal ganglia
1. Planning sequences of patterns of movement ( Caudate Circuits
).
2. Exciting subconscious learned movement patterns ( Putamen
Circuits )
3. Initiation and regulation of gross intentional movement
4. Posture taken by the body to perform a particular voluntary
movement.
5. Inhibition of muscle tone
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54. 54
Lobe Connected to Function
Paleocerebellum or
spinocerebellum AHCs
- Coordination of movement
- Inhibition of muscle tone
Neocerebellum or
cerebrocerebellum Cerebral cortex
- Planning and programming of
movements
- Facilitatory to muscle tone
Archicerebellum or
vestibulo-cerebellum Vestibular nuclei
- Concerned with equilibreium
55. Other functions of the cerebellum
皙 Comparator function ( feedback and
feedforward )
皙 The braking effect of the cerebellum
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