Motor Control: Issues and Theories

Question 1

What can be defined as the ability to regulate or direct the mechanisms essential to movement?

Answer 1

Motor Control

Question 2

What is motor control a study of?

Answer 2

the nature of movement and how movement is controlled

Question 3

What are the 3 factors affect the control of movement?

Movement emerges from the interactions between what 3 things?

Answer 3

• Individual
• Task
• Environment

Question 4

What are the 3 elements of the individual that influences the organization of movement?

Answer 4

• action
• perception
• cognition

Question 5

The individual factor of action is often associated with what?

Answer 5

specific actions or activities

For example: holding a cup, cooking, writing, and walking

Question 6

What is perception?

Answer 6

the integration of sensory input into meaningful information

Question 7

Perception includes the interpretation of what 3 things?

Answer 7

• Proprioception
• Mass of the object
• Vision

Question 8

Why is cognition an essential process of motor control?

Answer 8

Because movement is not performed in the absence of intent

Question 9

What are 5 cognitive processes?

Answer 9

• Attention
• Emotional aspects
• Motivation
• Planning
• Problem solving

Question 10

Is the ability to discriminate right from left a function of cognition or perception?

Answer 10

Perception

Question 11

Is the ability to recall dates and times of events a function of cognition or perception?

Answer 11

Cognition

Question 12

Is the ability to focus on an activity without being distracted a function of cognition or perception?

Answer 12

cognition

Question 13

Is the ability to identify body parts of self and others a function of cognition or perception?

Answer 13

Perception

Question 14

What are the 3 elements of the task that influences the organization of movement?

Answer 14

• mobility
• stability
• manipulation

Question 15

______ tasks are are performed with a nonmoving BOS, wheres ______ tasks are performed with a moving BOS.

Answer 15

Stability

Mobility

Question 16

The presence of a manipulation in a task increases the demand for what?

Answer 16

stability

Question 17

What is the difference between open and closed movement tasks?

Answer 17

• Open movement tasks require individuals to adapt their performance within a constantly changing and unpredictable environment.
• Closed tasks are relatively stereotyped, showing little variability, and performed in relatively fixed or predictable situation.

Question 18

What are the 2 elements of the environment that influences the organization of movement?

Answer 18

• regulatory

- nonregulatory

Question 19

Regulatory features of the environment shape what?

Answer 19

The movement itself

Question 20

What are examples of regulatory features?

Answer 20

• size, shape, and weight of an object

- surface on which we walk

Question 21

Describe nonregulatory features of an environment

Answer 21

They affect performance, but the movement itself does not have to conform to these features

Question 22

What can be defined as a group of abstract ideas about the control of movement?

Answer 22

A theory of motor control

Question 23

True or False

Motor control theories are more than just an approach to explaining action.

Explain…

Answer 23

True

They stress different aspects of the organization of the underlying neurophysiology and neuroanatomy of that action

Question 24

True or False

The actions of therapists are based on assumptions that are derived from theories

Answer 24

True

Question 25

What are the 4 things that theories provide?

Answer 25

- a framework for interpreting behavior - a guide for clinical application - new ideas - working hypotheses for examination and intervention

Question 26

Who developed the reflex theory?

Answer 26

Sir Charles Sherrington

Question 27

What does the reflex theory state?

Answer 27

That reflexes are the basis for all movement, which can be explained by the combined action of individual reflexes chained together

Question 28

What are the 2 limitations of the reflex theory?

Answer 28

- volitional motion requires no stimulus | - it cannot explain novel movements

Question 29

Hughlings Jackson believed the nervous system to organized as what?

Answer 29

a hierarchy, in that the brain has higher, middle, and lower levels of control

Question 30

A hierarchy can be described as ___-____. What does this mean?

Answer 30

top-down Higher centers are always in charge of lower centers

Question 31

When are reflexes controlled by lower levels of the neural hierarchy present? What does this signify?

Answer 31

Only when cortical centers are damaged Reflexes are part of a hierarchy of motor control, in which higher centers normally inhibit these lower reflex centers

Question 32

What is one of the limitations of a reflex/hierarchical theory of motor control?

Answer 32

It cannot explain the dominance of reflex behavior in certain situations in normal adults For example stepping on a pin results in an immediate withdrawal of the leg (the reflex, which is the lowest level of the hierarchy, dominates motor function)

Question 33

Can each level of the nervous system act on various levels? What does it depend on?

Answer 33

Yes, depending on the task

Question 34

What differentiates motor programming theory from reflex theory?

Answer 34

it can be activated either by sensory inputs or by central motor pattern

Question 35

How is motor programming applied clinically?

Answer 35

PTs focus on retraining movements important to functional tasks not just on specific muscle groups in isolation

Question 36

What is the limitation to motor programming?

Answer 36

It cannot be the sole determinant of action because it does not take into account that the nervous system must deal with both musculoskeletal and environmental variables in achieving movement control

Question 37

What does the dynamic systems theory explain?

Answer 37

That the neural control of movement is a characteristic of the system in which you are moving and the external and internal forces acting on the body

Question 38

What is a critical element to be adaptive to unpredictable and environmental challenges?

Answer 38

An optimal amount of variability in motor performance

Question 39

Based on the dynamic systems theory what should intervention focus on?

Answer 39

“variable practice” with different conditions

Question 40

What is a limitation of the dynamic systems theory?

Answer 40

This theory has the ability to overemphasize the body mechanics, and underestimate the role of the CNS

Question 41

What does the ecological theory state?

Answer 41

We detect information in our environment that is relevant to our actions and how we use this information to controls our movements

Question 42

How is the ecological theory applied clinically?

Answer 42

The individual is an active explorer of the environment which allows the individual to develop multiple ways to accomplish a task

Question 43

What s a limitation of the ecological theory?

Answer 43

It tends to give less emphasis to the organization and function of the nervous system that led to the interaction of the organism and the environment.

Question 44

Which theory of motor control is best?

Answer 44

One that combines elements from all of the theories

Question 45

According to the task-oriented approach what is movement organized around? What is it constrained by?

Answer 45

a behavioral goal the environment

Question 46

How do patients learn according to the task-oriented approach?

Answer 46

by actively attempting to solve the problems inherent in a functional task rather than by repetitively practicing normal patterns of movement

Question 47

Recovery according to the task-oriented approach can be described as what?

Answer 47

The desire to achieve function through original processes or using mechanisms previously used

Question 48

Compensation according to the task-oriented approach can be described as what?

Answer 48

Having to substitute for impairments using assistive device/atypical motor patterns