Movement (Chapter 3) Flashcards
(39 cards)
muscles that bedn a joint to bring the bones closer together are called…
flexors
muscles that straighten the joint, increasing the angle between the bones are…
extensors
flexors and extensors work in opposition.l what does this mean
when one of them contracts, the other relaxes
agonists
muscles that promote the movements required for motions such as the bending
of an elbow
anatgonists
muscles that oppose or inhibit the movement
are agonists or anatgonists required for skilled rapid movements (like throwing a dart)
- movements are started by agonsists and stopped by antagonists
- allows limb to accelerate and halt with speed+precision
co-contracion
for some movements, both muscles (anta, an) contract at the same time, which stabilizes or controls a movement such as holding an object at arm’s length
what are skeletal muscles made up of
thousands of individual muscle cells called musle fibers.
muscle fibres
each is controlled by a single alpha motor neruon that origniates in the spinal cord or brain
- each aloha motor neuron controls multiple muscles fibers (few-100)
motor unit
- alpha motor neruon plus all the muscle fibers it controls
- it is the critical link between the central nervous system and skeletal muscles
amyotrophic lateral scelerosis (ALS)
when motor neurons die.
- people lose the ability to move
two divisions of the nervous system
central, and peripheral
peripheral
nerves, and small concentrations of gray matter called ganglia. The brain sends messages to the peripheral nerves which control the muscles and internal organs
central nerovus syte,
brain and spinal cord
reflex movements
ocur without involvement of the brain or conscious attention. They instead depend on circuits of neurons located in or near the spinal cord itself
knee jerk
- stretch/myotatic reflex
- tao of thge tendon below kneww produces a slight stretch of the knee extensor muscle
-this stretch is sensed by receptors within the muscle (spindles)
-
what happens when spindles sense the extent and speed of the stretch
they sense the extent and speed of the stretch
- stimulate sensroy sensory neruons that send a barrage of impulses into the spinal cord
- in the spinal cord, the singles activate the alpha motor neruons that cause the stretched extensor muscle to contract which triggers the reflex
- antagonist flexor muscle has to relax at same time for the leg to kick forward
flexion crossed extension reflex
extensors of the opposite leg are activated (ex. when sharp object and bare foot)
what kind of info do muscle spindles provide?
- supply info about the changes in muscle length or stretch
- as a result, the brain will adjust the sensitivity of the system by a separate set of motor neruons
- these motor neruons keep the muscle spindles taut
- they re called gamma motor neurons
where do neurons communicate with muscles
neuro-muscular junctions
motor neruons
- carry instructions from the brain along long axons
- these long axons stretch from spinal cord to he muscles in hands and feet
Golgi tendon organs
- located where the muscle fibers connect to the tendon
- they detect how much force or retnsion is applied to a muscle during ongoing movement
- this increse’s the movement’s precision
central pattern generators (neruonal circuits)
- when they are activated, they produce the rhythmic patterns that occur in many movements.
evolved in primitive vertebrates. - the rhtyhmic patterns of muscle activation are generated by neurons within the spinal cord and brainstem circuits. They produce locomotion
what do all complex movments require
- input from the brain
- the higher brain regions involved in things like conscious planning initiate:
- voluntary motion
- coordinate complex sequences of movement
- tailor behavioural output to a given situation
THIS REQUIRES THAT THE BRAIN RELAYS COMMANDS TO THE APPROPRIATE SPINAL CIRCUITS