SCIE6057 –Chemistry & Biology

Week 5

Sensorimotor System and Control Movement

SENSORIMOTOR SYSTEM
 The Principle Of Sensorimotor Function

Three the principle of sensorimotor function :

• The sensorimotor system is hierarchically organized
• Motor output is guided by sensory input
• Learning changes the nature and locus of sensorimotor
control
A general model of the sensorimotor system. Notice its hierarchical structure,
its functional segregation, its parallel descending pathways, and its feedback
circuits.
 Associations Cortex

• Association cortex is at the top of your sensorimotor

hierarchy.
• There are two major areas of sensorimotor
association cortex:
−The posterior parietal association cortex
−The dorsolateral prefrontal association cortex
• Posterior parietal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal
cortex are each composed of several different areas,
each which has a different function.
 Cerebellum
 Cerebellum consists of two hemispheres with
associated deep nuclei
 Flocculonodular lobe is located at the caudal aspect of the
cerebellum
 This lobe has inputs and outputs to the vestibular system
 Involved in control of posture
 Vermis is located on the midline of the cerebellum
 Receives auditory and visual information from the tectum and
cutaneous information from the spinal cord
 Vermis projects to the fastigial nucleus which in turn projects to the
vestibular nucleus and to brainstem motor nuclei
 Damage to the cerebellum generally results in jerky,
erratic and uncoordinated movements
 Basal Ganglia
 Basal ganglia consist of the caudate nucleus, the
putamen and the globus pallidus
 Input to the basal ganglia is from the primary motor cortex
and the substantia nigra
 Output of the basal ganglia is to
 Primary motor cortex, supplemental motor area, premotor cortex
 Brainstem motor nuclei (ventromedial pathways)
 Cortical-basal ganglia loop
 Frontal, parietal, temporal cortex send axons to caudate/putamen
 Caudate/putamen projects to the globus pallidus
 Globus pallidus projects back to motor cortex via thalamic nuclei
The Basal ganglia. (a) The location of the components of basal ganglia and associated structures. (b) The major connection of basal
ganglia and associated structures. Excitatory connections are shown as black line; inhibitory connections are shown in red line. The
indirect pathway is indicated by arrow with broken lines. Many connections, such as the inputs to the substantia nigra, are omitted for
clarity. The internal division of the globus pallidus, the primary output of the basal ganglia and the target of stereotaxic surgery for
Parkinson’s disease, is outlined in gray.
 Descending Motor Pathways

• Neural signals are conducted from the primary motor

cortex to the motor neurons of the spinal cord over
four different pathways.
• Two pathways descend in the dorsolateral region of
the spinal cord, and two descend in the ventromedial
region of the spinal cord.
• Signals conducted over these pathways act together
in the control of voluntary movement.
 Sensorimotor Spinal Circuits

• The lowest level at the sensorimotor hierarchy are

the spinal circuits and the muscles they control.
• The motor circuits of the spinal cord show
considerable complexity in their functioning,
independent of signals from the brain
CONTROL OF MOVEMENT
 Control of Movement

• Muscles
• Reflexive Control of Movement
 Muscles

Our bodies have three types of muscles :

•Skeletal muscle
•Smooth muscle
•Cardiac muscle
 Skeletal Muscle
 Movements of our body are accomplished by contraction
of the skeletal muscles
 Flexion: contraction of a flexor muscle draws in a limb
 Extension: contraction of extensor muscle
 Skeletal muscle fibers have a striated appearance
 Skeletal muscle is composed of two fiber types:
 Extrafusal: innervated by alpha-motorneurons from the spinal
cord: exert force
 Intrafusal: sensory fibers that detect stretch of the muscle
 Afferent fibers: report length of intrafusal: when stretched, the fibers
stimulate the alpha-neuron that innervates the muscle fiber: maintains
muscle tone
 Efferent fibers: contraction adjusts sensitivity of afferent fibers.
 Each muscle fiber consists
of a bundle of myofibrils
 Each myofibril is made up of
overlapping strands of actin
and myosin
 During a muscle twitch, the
myosin filaments move
relative to the actin filaments,
thereby shortening the
muscle fiber
 Smooth and Cardiac Muscle
 Smooth muscle is controlled by the autonomic nervous
system
 Multiunit smooth muscle is normally inactive
 Located in large arteries, around hair and in the eye
 Responds to neural or hormonal stimulation
 Single-unit smooth muscle exhibits rhythmic contraction
 Muscle fibers produce spontaneous pacemaker potentials that elicit
action potentials in adjacent smooth muscle fibers
 Single-unit muscle is found in gastrointestinal tract, uterus, small
blood vessels
 Cardiac muscle fibers resemble striated muscle in
appearance, but exhibit rhythmic contractions like that
of single-unit smooth muscle
 Reflexive Control of Movement

• Reflexes are simple circuits of sensory neurons,

interneurons (usually), and efferent neurons that
control simple responses to particular stimuli.
• in the monosynaptic stretch reflex the terminal
buttons of axons that receive sensory information
from the intrafusal muscle fibers synapse with alpha
motor neurons that innervate the same muscle. Thus,
a sudden lengthening of the muscle causes the
muscle to contract.
 Monosynaptic stretch reflexes involve a single synapse
between a sensory fiber from a muscle and an alpha-motor
neuron
 Sensory fiber activation quickly activates the alpha motor neuron
which contracts muscle fibers
 Patellar reflex
 Monosynaptic stretch reflex (posture)
 Polysynaptic stretch reflexes involve multiple synapses
between sensory axons, interneurons, and motor neurons
 Axons from the afferent muscle spindles can synapse onto
 Alpha motor neuron connected to the agonist muscle
 An inhibitory interneuron connected to the antagonist muscle
 Signals from the muscle spindle activate the agonist and inhibit the
antagonist muscle
The monosynaptic stretch reflex (a) Neural circuit. (b) A useful function.
The role of the monosynaptic stretch reflex in postural control
Polysynaptic inhibitory reflex. Input from the Golgi tendon organ cab cause
inhibitory postsynaptic potentials to the alpha motor neuron.
Thank You