Theme 1 - Concept 1 Flashcards
(16 cards)
More degrees of freedom pro and con
more manoeuvrability and precision but the control problem is more complex
What degrees of freedom does the human body pertain to?
joints, muscles and a number of neural elements that control those muscles and cause them to contract
Motor equivalence
there are multiple ways for humans to move their limbs in order to achieve the same goal. This means there is no unique correspondence between motor tasks and the neural signals that give rise to them
How do motor programs provide a possible solution to the degrees of freedom problem?
Because they simplify control. One program can be used to control different effectors, but it’s still the same problem
How many muscles and joints?
1000 muscles, 100 joints
How many neurons and synapses
10^11 neurons with 10^14 synapses
What did Bernstein suggest?
That the CNS must provide a means for functionally freezing (constraining) the DoF. This constrains the motor system into something that is controllable
Analogy for freezing
cars have 4 wheels but they aren’t controlled by 4 steering wheels, but one
what is Bernstein’s problem of displacement?
Who controls the controller? Or who controls the controllers controller?
What did Bernstein discover about if the brain has control over the entire motor system?
lower levels of the nervous system, particularly in the spinal cord are capable of producing complex motor patterns on their own and this control doesn’t always need to be exerted over the system in higher levels
What is Coordination
adheres to the principles of self-organisation
makes a large number of DoF controllable
is the process of mastering the DoF of every moving organ, in other words its conversion to a controllable system
What is Runbot?
runbots circuitry (nervous system) is made up of nested sensory motor loops which are mimicking the spinal cord circuitry that is necessary for human locomotion
what are the 3 levels of control the authors considered?
biomechanical, spinal and postural
What features of movement does the brain encode?
Neural signals of awake behaving animals and humans are now being used to control robotic devices. Important for people who have lost ability to move.
tail, towards the back
caudal
where are the motor neuron cell bodies are located in the spinal cord?
anterior horn
