Controlling movements and autonomic outputs-contributions of the brain Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Controlling movements and autonomic outputs-contributions of the brain Deck (29)
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1
Q

Why do the cervical and lumbar regions of the spinal cord have larger ventral horns?

A

packed with mainly motor neurones innervating muscle
whereas the thoracic spinal cord has a smaller ventral horn because it only controls muscles of the trunk which are involved in less fine control

2
Q

What is the intermediate horn also called?

A

laminae 7- intermediolateral cell column

3
Q

What is the ventral horn also called?

A

laminae 9- motor nucleus

4
Q

What inputs do alpha motor neurones receive?

A

it is complex as they receive triple influences

  • sensory inputs
  • spinal interneurones
  • descending tracts
5
Q

Why are interneurones so important ?

A

They are important for integrating information

6
Q

What is the high level of motor control hierarchy?

A

its function is strategy and the structures involved are association areas of neocortex and basal ganglia

7
Q

What is the middle level of motor control hierarchy?

A

its function is tactics and the structures involved are the motor cortex and cerebellum

8
Q

What is the low level of motor control hierarchy?

A

its function is execution and the structures involved are the brainstem and spinal cord

9
Q

What are the 2 major groups of descending pathways that enable communication between the brain and motoneurons in the spinal cord?

A

1) LATERAL PATHWAYS

2) VENTROMEDIAL PATHWAYS

10
Q

What are the lateral pathways like?

A

involved in voluntary movements of distal musculature
direct cortical control
fine control of distal musculature

11
Q

What are the ventromedial pathways like?

A

posture and locomotion
brainstem control
posture and balance

12
Q

What is meant by species differences in pathways ?

A

the location of pathways is different in different species, therefore it is important to consider this when using animal models
- in humans the corticospinal tract (important for dexterity) is present laterally whereas in rats/mice it is present in the dorsal column

13
Q

What are the impairments induced by corticospinal tract injuries?

A

the deterioration of motor impairments are dependent upon the extent of CST damage

14
Q

What occurred in a complete unilateral hemisection of the CST?

A

eliminated grip causing sever impairments in food retrieval by the forepaw ipsilateral to the lesion

15
Q

What does a hemisection mean ?

A

if the damage crosses onto the other side, damage will occur on both sides whereas hemisection is only on one side

16
Q

What can happen if not all pathways are damaged?

A

the pathways that remain may undergo plasticity and therefore slight recovery may occur

17
Q

How was it tested to see if the rubrospinal tract could compensate for CST loss?

A

they lesioned the pyramidal tract and then the dorsalateral funicular and compared motor function to animals that has lesions to both tracts simultaneously

18
Q

Can the rubrospinal tract compensate for CST loss?

A

it can only compensate for skilled reaching and there was only a degree of compensation

19
Q

How can recovery occur in incomplete injuries?

A

due to sprouting of undamaged fibres
- in mice there is little ipsilateral labeling initially however after 4 weeks the ipsilateral side started to be labelled
sprouting is important for recovering function

20
Q

How can forelimb and hindlimb movements be improved after CST damage?

A

stimualtion of spared CST fibres improves locomotor function- it suggested pathways are crossing and sending new pathways across to the impaired side to try and recover some function

21
Q

What is the link between the ventromedial (MLF) and corticospinal tracts onto single interneurones thought to be ?

A

thought there may be plasticity within the system because when recording from single interneurones in monkeys when they were reaching to grasp food
they expected CST simulation to cause the interneurone to fire but they were surprised that it also occurred when the ventromedial pathway was stimulated

22
Q

What happens to dextrous movements in macaque monkeys overtime?

A

1 day after the CST lesion there is a loss of ability to grasp a sugar cube= loss of dextrous activity
7 days after the CST lesion, there are improvements in grasping suggesting compensation has occurred

23
Q

What was determined about the reticulospinal pathway in terms of compensation?

A

7 days after a lesion, grasping was a struggle
whereas 4 weeks after the injury recovery of grasping action had occurred - this and the previous experiment indicate that the ventromedial pathways can compensate for the loss and therefore we should exploit this

24
Q

Why is the RVLM so important?

A

it has a major role in sympathetic control

  • important for controlling BP
  • injecting glutamate cases increases in bp, hr and sympathetic activity

also important in temperature regulation

25
Q

What is the role of the raphe nuclei?

A

if you inject NMDA or KA into it then it increases HR, BAT activity and expiration of carbon dioxide

26
Q

What are organs that are also very important for sympathetic control, particularly for SCI patients?

A

bladder, bowel and sex organs - there receive complex autonomic and motor control
- the bladder receives somatic, parasympathetic and sympathetic inputs

27
Q

What is the barrington’s nuclues?

A

it provides inputs to autonomic neurones innervating both bladder and colon
- injecting psuedorabies virus into bladder or colon and it goes back into spinal cord labelling SPNS into BN and LC

28
Q

What is important about the development of the descending pathways involved in bladder and bowel control?

A

when you are young you have no supra spinal control- sometimes in males this doesn’t develop until 7/8 years old

29
Q

What are the symptoms of autonomic dysfunction?

A

severe postural hypotension- loss of consciousness
incontinence
impotence