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Motor Lab

This document provides definitions and descriptions related to an online neuroscience lab on motor pathways and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). It defines alpha and gamma motor neurons, muscle spindles, Golgi tendon organs, and diagrams the monosynaptic and flexion-crossed extension reflex circuits. It also explains that TMS uses magnetism to noninvasively stimulate brain areas, and how moving the TMS coil mediolaterally stimulates different body parts based on the topographic organization of the motor cortex.

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nazanin.asadipour
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26 views

Motor Lab

This document provides definitions and descriptions related to an online neuroscience lab on motor pathways and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). It defines alpha and gamma motor neurons, muscle spindles, Golgi tendon organs, and diagrams the monosynaptic and flexion-crossed extension reflex circuits. It also explains that TMS uses magnetism to noninvasively stimulate brain areas, and how moving the TMS coil mediolaterally stimulates different body parts based on the topographic organization of the motor cortex.

Uploaded by

nazanin.asadipour
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction to Neuroscience 1

(COGS1000)
ONLINE MOTOR LAB: TMS and
descending motor pathways
Activity Sheet

PART 1
For Part 1 of the lab activity, you should primarily consult your textbook
(Ch 16).
1. Define α motor neurons, γ motor neurons, muscle spindles, and Golgi
tendon organs.
Alpha motor neurons initiate skeletal muscle contraction. Located
ventral horn of the spinal cord and motor nuclei of cranial nerves in the
brainstem.
They send axons directly to the muscles via ventral roots and spinal
peripheral nerves.

Other definition: large motor neurons in the spinal cord and brainstem
that initiate skeletal muscle contraction. The cell bodies of a motor
neurons are located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord gray matter
and in the motor nuclei of the cranial nerves in the brainstem. a motor
neurons send axons directly to skeletal muscles via the ventral roots
and spinal peripheral nerves or, in the case of brainstem motor nuclei,
via cranial nerves.

Gamma motor neurons innervate intrafusal muscle fibers within


spindles. They regulate proprioceptive information by setting intrafusal
muscle fibers to an appropriate length.

Other definition: motor neurons that innervate intrafusal muscle fibers


within the muscle spindles; they function to regulate proprioceptive
information sent to the spinal cord and brainstem by setting the
intrafusal muscle fibers to an appropriate length.

Muscle spindles are mechanoreceptors that detect changes in length of


muscle and provide information about position of limbs. Four to eight
specialized fibers are surrounded by a capsule of connective tissue.

Golgi tendon organs are also mechanoreceptors located in tendons that


detect changes in muscle tension. They are group 1b afferences,
distributed in collagen fibers that form the tendon.

1
2. Draw a diagram of the circuit involved in the monosynaptic (knee-
jerk) reflex. Label all the relevant parts and connections in the reflex
circuit. (Besides Ch 16, see p. 11)

2
3. Draw a diagram of the circuit involved in the flexion–crossed
extension reflex. Label all the relevant parts and connections in the

reflex Circuit

PART 2
Please watch this video on the iLearn page under “Week 8 Online Motor
Lab: Monosynaptic Reflex Experiment Video”. After watching the video,
please perform the experiment on a parent, sibling, or housemate. And
then have them perform the experiment on you. After you have
completed the experiment, please answer the following question that
Paul Sowman asks at the end of the video:

Why do you think the monosynaptic reflex response is exaggerated when


you are contracting other muscle groups in the arm or the jaw?

3
There are many theories which are incompletely understood.
It may be because the contraction of other muscles counter some of the
descending inhibition from the brainstem to the interneurons in the
monosynaptic reflect arc. The disinhibition of 1a afferents can then
result in exaggerated reflex response.

PART 3
For Part 3 of the lab activity, please watch the following video lecture
from Prof Nancy Kanwisher on TMS:
https://nancysbraintalks.mit.edu/video/watch-nancys-brain-get-zapped-
transcranial-magnetic-stimulation. After watching the video, please
answer the following questions:

1. Briefly explain what TMS is and how it works.

TMS is a noninvasive causal method to affect areas of the brain in


participants. It runs a current through the coil, inducing activity via
magnetism in the brain underlying the coil.
Issues to it may include cranial nerve twitches and also people with
dreads or very thick skulls cannot be used.

2. How can you tell whether the TMS pulse is inducing a surface nerve
effect from a cortical effect?

A surface nerve is a face twitch.


Cortical effect is contralateral and depends where on the brain was
stimulated.

3. Which anatomical direction does the experimenter move the TMS coil
in order to go from eliciting muscle twitches in Prof Kanwisher’s hand
to muscle twitches in her leg? Briefly explain why repositioning the
TMS coil in this way causes this to happen.

The experimenter moves the topographic organization of the primary


motor cortex. Upper limbs are more laterally placed, whereas the
lower limbs are more medial.

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