Lecture 1
gross motor skill: use large musculature to achieve a skill; jumping
fine motor skill: use small musculature to achieve a skill; buttoning a shirt
discrete motor skill: specified beginning and end of an action; flipping a light switch
continuous motor skill: specified beginning and end of an action (repetitive); steering a wheel
serial motor skill: continuous series of discrete movements; shifting gears in a car
What information about a movement can be obtained by an using EMG?
The onset and formation of muscle activity
What are the two (main) filaments responsible for
skeletal muscle actions?
Actin: thin filament
Myosin: thick filament
Define proprioception and provide the sensory
information it is involved with / processed. What are its
roles in motor control?
Proprioception is the awareness of our body in space.
The sensory info that it's involved with is position, location, velocity, and muscle contraction.
The 3 roles:
1. movement accuracy
2. onset of motor commands
3. coordination control
define actions and movements in relation to motor skills.
actions are used synonymously and interchangeably with motor skills. movements are specific patterns of motion among joints and body segments.
Describe the different types of balance as a motor ability
Static balance is the ability to maintain stability on a stable surface. Dynamic is the ability to maintain stability on a moving surface.
Describe the three types of neurons within the
neuromuscular system.
Sensory (afferent) neurons: send neural impulses to the CNS from sensory receptors.
Motor (efferent) neurons: neurons have axons that connect with skeletal muscle fibers.
Interneurons: specialized neurons that originate and terminate in brain or spinal cord.
Describe the two processing streams of vision.
Ventral Stream: the vision for perception or a high form vision.
Closed stream: the vision for action or the position rotation/spatial.
what are the three reasons for
distinguishing between actions, movements, and
neuromotor processes?
1. people learn to achieve action goals
2. people use a variety of movements to discover the best movements to achieve action goals
3. people refine movements and make it more efficient
Describe the different types of timing as a motor ability.
Internal timing is movement timing from a person's individual representation of time. External timing is timing from an external source.
Identify the four main areas of the brain that are most
actively responsible for the control of voluntary
movement.
Cerebrum: control muscles with voluntary movement.
Diencephalon: relay center for sensory information.
Cerebellum: coordination and motor learning.
Brainstem: automatic motor behavior.
Describe the speed-accuracy trade-off that occurs in the performance of many motor skills (Fitt’s Law). Give two examples of motor skills that demonstrate this
phenomenon.
Fitt's Law: the speed at which a skill is performed and influenced by a movement accuracy demand.
Examples:
- typing
- pitching a baseball
Describe the difference between performance outcome
measures and performance production measures. Give
an example of each.
Performance outcome measures are the result of a motor skill (how far a ball is thrown.
Performance production measures are how the nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems function during a motor skill (EMG).
Identify and describe the three basic parts of a
neuron.
Soma: the body of the cell that contains the nucleus and machinery.
Dendrites: the short branches that originate the soma and the site of inputs.
Axon: a long branch that transmits output signals.
Describe a motor unit and its function in the control of
voluntary movement. Discuss how the motor unit is
involved in the generation of muscular force.
An alpha motor neuron and all the muscle fibers it innervates. Number of muscle fibers served by a motor unit depends on the type of movement associated with the muscle.
What is Hick’s Law and how does it affect motor
performance?
Hick's Law: the time it takes someone to react increases when there are multiple choices.
This affects motor performance because it results in a slower reaction time.
Define reaction time (RT) and provide its three uses.
RT is how long it takes someone to initiate a movement.
1. assesses time for a required response
2. utilization of environmental lab
3. assess the capabilities of an individual
Describe the steps of synaptic transmission.
1. presynaptic action potential arrives.
2. presynaptic membrane lets vesicles with molecules of neurotransmitter pass through.
3. vesicles release neurotransmitter into synaptic cleft.
4. molecules diffuse across cleft to the postsynaptic membrane and act at special sites.
5. postsynaptic membrane is either depolarized or hyperpolarized.
What is the main function of the vestibular system?
Balance.
Define prehension in regard to human motor behavior and it's 3 components.
Prehension: the combined motor-sensory function of the hand.
3 Components:
1. transport
2. grasp
3. object manipulation