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What’s the motor system?
Parts of  CNS and PNS specialized for control of limb, trunk, and eye movements
Also holds us together
From simple reflexes (knee jerk) to voluntary movements (96mph fast ball)
Remarkable: Muscles only contract

Plan
Components of the motor systems
Focus on spinal control of limbs and trunk
Same principles apply to to head control via brain stem
Basic principles of movement control
What is helpful for understanding basic motor system organization
Motor programs for voluntary movement
Descending motor pathways
Note about motor system’s bad rep…

Motor systems

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Hierarchical & Parallel Organization of the motor systems
Top down organization of the motor pathways--opposite that of sensory paths
Subcortical motor centers--cerebellum & basal ganglia--access cortical motor areas via the thalamus (not just sensory)
Organization of multiple subcortical and cortical motor circuits-reminiscent of parallel sensory pathways

Organization of Movements
Hierarchical: 3 major types
Reflexes
Postural adjustments
Voluntary movements
…from simple to complex
Diverse & adaptive
Purposeful

Organization of Movements
Hierarchical: 3 major types
Reflexes Spinal cord circuits
Postural adjustments Spinal & Brain stem
Voluntary movements Spinal cord, Brain stem, & cortex

Reflexes
Stimulus-evoked involuntary muscle contraction
Monosynaptic (+) reflex
Knee-jerk
Jaw-jerk
Simple neural representation (circuit)

Knee Jerk

Reflexes
Stimulus-evoked involuntary motor muscle contraction
Monosynaptic (+) reflex
Knee-jerk
Jaw-jerk
Disynaptic reflex (+)
withdrawal

Why Disynaptic?
Greater control (neural gate)
Very simple context
More complex response

Spinal Circuits

Spinal Circuits

Motor I/O

Motor I/O

Postural adjustments
Context important
Can reorganize depending on context
Feedback control-reactive
Error correction
Response lags stimulus; sometimes too late; sometimes vicious circle
Feed-forward control-predictive
Response anticipates stimulus
More timely, but depends on practice

Voluntary movements
Organized around purposeful acts
Flexible input-output relationships
Limitless
Price to pay: whole brain

Voluntary movements
Organized around purposeful acts
Flexible input-output relationships
Limitless
Price to pay: whole brain
Recruits all motor systems components & much of the association cortex

The goal of voluntary movements is represented… somewhere
Motor equivalence
Individual motor actions share important characteristics even when performed in different ways
Abstract representation; effector independent
Hand writing
Soccer
Goal representation
??Association & Premotor cortex

Voluntary movements are
organized by motor programs
Translate goal into action
Formation of a movement representation, or
motor program
??Premotor cortex --> Primary motor cortex
Program
To produce the desired goal, which muscles should contract and when
2 Key movement characteristics that are programmed
Spatial (hand path; joint angles) Kinematic program
Force Dynamic program

Kinematic & Dynamic Programs
in Reaching
Reach to target--(Sensation to Action)
Visual cortex-->Association cortex-->Premotor-->1° motor
Distinct kinematic and dynamic programs
Reach up
Against gravity
More force to achieve goal
Reach down
Gravity assists
Less force to achieve goal
Flexible control

Summary
Motor behavior hierarchy
Reflexes
Postural adjustments
Voluntary movements
Internal/neural representations
Reflexes simple; invariant
Postural adjustments
Voluntary movements complex; flexible
Voluntary movements
Goal representation
Kinematic and dynamic programs
No wonder why voluntary movement recruit entire
motor system

Motor systems

Motor systems

Motor Pathways Hierarchy

Motor pathways organized around the motor nuclei

Spinal Motor Columns

Ventral Horn
Organization:
Proximal - distal rule

Ventral Horn
Organization:
Proximal - distal rule

Brain Stem Motor Paths

Brain Stem Pathways
Lateral
Rubrospinal tract: distal limb control; crude
Medial
Tectospinal tract: eye-head coordination
Reticulospinal tract: automatic postural adjustments and movements (hip; shoulder)
Vestibulospinal tract: balance (axial muscles); automatic postural adjustments

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Cortical
Motor
Paths

Cortical motor paths
Lateral corticospinal tract
Limb control mostly
Ventral corticospinal tract
Proximal muscle control; mostly upper body
For cranial muscle control:
Corticobulbar tract
with medial and lateral components

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Why bother study the motor pathways?
Anatomical substrates: How it works
Multiple parallel paths & diversity of spinal connections
Damage to 1° motor cortex and pre-motor cortex projections recover some lost functions
Damage to cortex and brain stem paths recover some lost functions
With spinal cord injury. loss of monosynaptic connections and alternate paths via segmental and intersegmental interneurons can recover some lost functions

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