MOVEMENT

Hierarchy of Motor Control

1. Cerebellum and basal nuclei
2. Motor cortex and brain stem nuclei
3. Spinal cord
NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTIONS (NMJ)
Ach released to nicotinic receptor
influx of cations releases Ca+2 into muscle (acts as
second messenger)
muscle contracts (strength controlled by action
potential frequency)
DISEASE - myastenia gravis autoimmune disorder
affecting Ach receptors at NMJs; bilateral, progressive
SPINAL CORD
lower motor neurons originate from ventral horn to
synapse at NMJ
motor unit = lower motor neuron and all its muscle
fibers
smaller motor unit = finer movement control
cervical and lumbar enlargement lots of fine motor
control needed
DISEASE amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) loss
of lower motor neurons leads to progressive
weakness and paralysis
INPUT TO SPINAL CORD
Ventromedial Pathway Reticulospinal tract
Lateral Pathway - Corticospinal Tract (aka pyramidal
tract)
primary motor cortex to spinal cord to muscles
tract can synapse directly onto muscles or onto
inhibitory interneurons (then muscles)

 Motor Cortex Internal Capsule (forebrain)

Cerebral Peduncle (midbrain) Pyramid
(midbrain) Spinal Cord
PMA (pre motor area) and SMA (supplementary
motor area) (AREA 6) input high level control into
motor cortex; M1 is AREA 4
somatosensory cortex inputs into M1; prefrontal
cortex inputs into AREA 6 (PMA and SMA)
mostly prefrontal cortex sends info to basal ganglia
which input into VLo which goes back to AREA 6
mostly sensory cortex sends info to the pons, then
to the deep cerebellar nuclei, then to the
thalamus, then back into AREA 4
cerebellum helps coordinate movement
cortex and substantia nigra input into the striatum
which goes to other pathways
DISEASE Parkinsons disease degeneration of
the substantia nigra leads to tremors, trouble
initiating movement, slowness
DISEASE Huntingtons disease degeneration of
the striatum leads to excess/unwanted movement
DISEASE Cerebellar ataxias uncoordinated
movement, bi or unilateral
SOMATOSENSATION
THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS
environmental stimulus reception transduction
transmission processing perception
recognition action
ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI (1)
pressure, muscle stretch (proprioception), thermal
energy (hot/cold), small molecules (pain/itch)

 RECEPTION (2)
dendrites bring info to cell body
distinct receptive field for each receptor
TRANSDUCTION (3)
different for each type of stimulus
MECHANORECEPTORS
pressure opens ion channels OR attachment to
extracellular/cytoskeletal proteins that stretch ion
channels open
greater stimulus = greater # of receptor potentials
intensity of perception proportional to firing rate
superficial receptors generally have small
receptive fields and vice versa
adaptation rate
slow adapting = sustained response
fast adapting = respond to onset and offset only
Mechanoreceptor SUBTYPES
Meissners corpuscles rapidly adapting, small
receptive field, less sensitive to vibration,
receptive to low frequencies
Pacinian corpuscles rapidly adapting, large
receptive field, extremely sensitive to vibration,
receptive to high frequencies
Raffinis endings slow adapting, large receptive
field
Merkels disks slow adapting, small receptive
field
THERMORECEPTORS
TRP receptors hot and cold
G-protein coupled receptors
each is sensitive to a diff. temperature range
acclimate to a sustained temperature

 NOCICEPTORS
react to harmful extreme stimuli like heat,
chemicals, high pressure, cold
TRANSMISSION (4)
AXON SUBTYPES
A most myelinated, proprioception in skeletal
muscle
A 2nd most myelinated, skin mechanoreceptors
A least myelinated, pain and temperature
reception
C unmyelinated, temperature, pain, and itch
reception
Dorsal Root Ganglia (DRG) all cell bodies for body
senses (unipolar), axons connect to dorsal horn of
spinal cord
PATHWAYS
Dorsal Column Medial Lemniscal Pathway (DCML)
A and A (some A) fibers
axon goes straight to brain (doesnt synapse w/
spinal cord)
goes to medulla (which has dorsal column
nuclei)
at the dorsal column nucleus, it synapses with
the medial lemniscus which then synapses onto
the thalamus
Spino-thalamic tract C fibers (also some A
fibers)
C fibers primarily synapse at dorsal horn, some
synapse at other parts of the spinal cord
spinal cord then goes to the thalamus
2 dorsal ganglia left and right

 dermatome area of skin enervated by a section

of the spinal cord
PROCESSING (5)
Lateral inhibition
excited neuron reduces the activity of its neighbors
to prevent the lateral spread of excitation and
creates a contrast in stimulation so the brain can
process incoming info better
Somatosensory cortex processes incoming info
Somatotopic Map creates the homunculus
PERCEPTION (6)
2 point discriminaton how far apart on the skin do
stimuli need to be for the brain to recognize them as
2 different stimuli
VISION: THE EYE
ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI (1)
light reflected off objects
structures of eye refract light
RECEPTION (2)
Parts of the eye
pupil lets light in
iris controls how big pupil is
sclera whites of eyes
cornea - covers front of eye
retina back of eye; top layer is ganglion cells,
then bipolar cells, then photoreceptors
optic disc blind spot where the optic nerve enters
the eye
Visual Field
everything on retina is two dimensional and
upside-down inverted

 TRANSCDUCTION (3)
Photoreceptors
lots of extra membrane on outer segment to carry
lots of rhodopsin (which changes shape when hit
by light)
light causes Na+ channels to close so the receptor
hyperpolarizes
Na+ channels open in the dark via cGMP
SIGNALING CASCADE
rhodopsin activates transducin (G protein)
transducin activates cGMPphosphodiesterase
(cGMPPDE)
cGMPPDE closes Na+ channels by degrading
cGMP
RODS bleach at low light, periphery of retina
CONES bleach at high light, fovea of retina
TRANSMISSION (4)
Bipolar cells
receive graded glutamatergic input from
photoreceptors
graded response (no action potentials)
can be on or off
Lateral inhibition
direct transmission from photoreceptors to bipolar
cells in the center on or off, glutamatergic
synapse (excitatory)
indirect transmission from photoreceptors to
horizontal cells to bipolar cells in surrounding area
reverses center response, GABAergic synapse
(inhibitory)
Ganglion Cells
receive graded input from bipolar cells

 first visual cells to fire action potentials

can be on or off
convergence input from one or many bipolar cells
and photoreceptors (indirectly)
SUBTYPES
M type magno = big, input from ~25 cones,
high sensitivity, low acuity, fast adaptation
P type parvo = small, input from single cone,
low sensitivity, high acuity, slow adaptation
Center Surround Receptive Fields
on center/off surround
light in center excites, light in surround inhibits
dark in center inhibits, dark in surround excites
off center/on surround
light in center inhibits, light in surround excites
dark in center excites, dark in surround inhibits
VISION: CENTRAL PROCESSING
TRANSMISSION (4) CONT
eye optic nerve (left and right eyes) optic
chiasm (some fibers cross) optic tract (left and
right visual field separation)
at optic chiasm, nasal parts (peripheral vision) of eye
cross over
right optic tract gets left visual field and vice versa
retina lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN)
striate cortex = V1 (primary visual cortex)
6 layers
retinotropy map of the visual field
PROCESSING (5)
V1: simple cells
require specific orientation of LGN receptive fields

 V1: orientation columns

vertical section all cells respond to same
orientation
horizontal section cells respond to range of
orientations
Extrastriate Visual Areas
V1 V2 SPLIT into V4 and MT/V5
V1 V2 (and P cells) V4 IT temporal
cortex
V1 V2 (and M Cells) MT MST parietal
cortex
IT = inferior temporal cortex
MT = middle temporal cortex
MST = medial superior temporal cortex
PERCEPTION (6)
Dorsal stream = Motion Pathway (where
pathway)
MT = simple motion, MST = optic flow, STS
(superior temporal sulcus) = biological motion
Ventral stream = Recognition Pathway (what
pathway)
PPA (parahippocampal place area) = scene
recognition, FFA (fusiform face area) = face
recognition