Chapter 10 Flashcards
(32 cards)
Degrees of freedom problem
Problem whereby there are potentially an infinite number of motor solutions for acting on an object
Motor programs
Stored routines that specify certain motor parameters of an action (e.g. the relative timing of strokes)
Somatosensation
A cluster of perceptual processes that relate to the skin and body, and include touch, pain, thermal sensation, and limb position
Proprioception
Knowledge of the position of the limbs in space
Sensorimotor transformation
Linking together perceptual knowledge of objects in space and knowledge of the position of one’s body to enable objects to be acted on
Homunculus problem
The problem of explaining volitional acts without assuming a cognitive process that is itself volitional (“a man within a man”)
Primary motor cortex
Part of the brain responsible for execution of voluntary movements of the body
Population vector
The sum of the preferred tunings of neurons multiplied by their firing rates
Hemiplegia
Damage to one side of the primary motor cortex results in a failure to voluntarily move the other side of the body
Premotor cortex
The lateral area is important for linking action with visual objects in the environment; the medial area is known as the supplementary motor area and deals with self-generated actions
Supplementary motor area (SMA)
Deals with well-learned actions, particularly action sequences that do not place strong demands on monitoring the environment
Perseveration
Repeating an action that has already been performed and is no longer relevant
Utilization behavior
Impulsively acting on irrelevant objects in the environment
Schema
An organized set of stored information (e.g. of familiar action routines)
Contention scheduling
The mechanism that selects one particular schema to be enacted from a host of competing schemas
Sense of agency
The subjective feeling that voluntary actions are owned and controlled by the actor
Forward model
A representation of the motor command (a so-called efference copy) is used to predict the sensory consequences of an action
Imitation
The ability to reproduce the behavior of another through observation
Mirror neuron
A neuron that responds to goal-directed actions performed by oneself or by others
Optic ataxia
An inability to use vision to accurately guide action, without basic deficits in visual discrimination or voluntary movement per se
Parietal reach region (PRR)
A part of occipito-parietal cortex that responds, in particular, to reaching movements
Anterior intraparietal area (AIP)
A part of intra-parietal sulcus that responds, in particular, to manipulable shapes or 3D objects (from vision or touch)
Ventral intraparietal area (VIP)
A part of intra-parietal sulcus that responds to objects close to the body and in body-centered (as opposed to gaze-centered) coordinates
Phantom limb
The feeling that an amputated limb is still present
