What is Motor Control? The big picture

Lecture 1:

• Overview of Motor Control

What is Motor Control?

The big picture...

Motor Behavior

• An area of study stressing primarily the principles of human skilled movement generated at a behavioral level of analysis.

Motor Behavior:

• Action

• Perception

• Cognition

• Interaction of individual, task and environment.

Motor Control

• An area of study dealing with the understanding of the neural, physiological and behavioral aspects of movements.

Two main aspects of motor control:

• Stabilizing the body in space, postural and balance control.

• Moving the body in space, movement.

Motor Learning

• A set of internal processes associated with practice or experience leading to relatively permanent changes in the capability of motor skill.

Motor Development

• A field of study concerning the changes in motor bahavior occuring as a result of growth, maturation and experience.

Why should we study motor control?

• Improving movement capability following injury to guide clinical intervention.

• Improving motor performance.

• Generating and building theory.

Theory vs. Model in Motor Control

• A theory of motor control is a group of abstract ideas about the nature and cause of movement.

Theories of Motor Control

Reflex theory

• The building blocks of complex behavior.

• Sir Charles Sherrington, neurophisiologist (The Integrative Action of the Nervous System), 1906.

• Classified the major responses to stimuli, and believed that most of the voluntary movements resulted from these fundamental reflexes.

Stimulus Response Response

• Stimulus Response Response

• Sensory receptor Effector(muscle)

Information processing model

• Input

• (Signals)

• Processing

• (The human)

• Output

• (Motor response)

Information processing model

• Stimulus Stimulus Response Response Movement

• (Input) iden. selection progra. output

• REACTION TIME

• THE HUMAN

Hierarchical Theory

• Top - down structure

• Reflexes are part of this hierarchy, normally higher centers inhibit them

• (Chart to be scanned)

• Motor control emerges from reflexes, later on integrated with higher control levels.

• Limitations

Motor programming theories

• Sensory input not essential to drive movement but important function in modulating it.

• **Try for yourself (signature) demo.

• Limitations

Dynamical Systems theory

• Bernstein-characteristics of acting systems, external and internal forces.

• Distributed model of motor control-no need for higher center of control.

• Interaction of elements, physical and neural components.

• Limitations

Parallel distributed processing theory.

• Parallel distributed processing theory.

• NS processes information in serial and parallel.

• Limitations

Task oriented theories

• Control of movement is organized around goal-directed functional behaviors such as walking or talking.

• Limitations

Ecological theory.

• How do we detect information in our environment that is important to our actions?

• Limitations