Control of Body Movement

Dr. Komal Jabeen

Senior Lecturer
COP, NMDC
Learning objectives
 Motor Control Hierarchy
 Local Control of Motor Neurons
 The Brain Motor Centers and the Descending
Pathways They Control
 Muscle Tone
 Maintenance of Upright Posture and Balance
 Walking
Motor Control Hierarchy
The neurons involved in controlling skeletal muscles can be thought of as being
organized in a hierarchical fashion, with each level of the hierarchy having a certain
task in motor control.
To begin a consciously planned movement, a general intention such as “pick up
sweater” or “write signature” or “answer telephone” is generated at the highest level of
the motor control hierarchy.
Information is relayed from these higher-center “command” neurons to parts of
the brain that make up the middle level of the motor control hierarchy.

The middle-level structures specify the individual postures and movements

needed to carry out the intended action. In our example of picking up a sweater,
structures of the middle hierarchical level coordinate the commands that tilt the
body and extend the arm and hand toward the sweater and shift the body’s weight
to maintain balance.

The middle-level hierarchical structures are located in parts of the cerebral

cortex as well as in the cerebellum, subcortical nuclei, and brainstem.
As the neurons in the middle level of the hierarchy receive input from the
command neurons, they simultaneously receive afferent information from
receptors in the muscles, tendons, joints, and skin, as well as from the
vestibular apparatus and eyes.

These afferent signals relay information to the middle-level neurons about the
starting positions of the body parts that are “commanded” to move.

They also relay information about the nature of the space just outside the body in
which a movement will take place.
Neurons of the middle level of the hierarchy integrate all of this afferent
information with the signals from the command neurons to create a motor
program—defined as the pattern of neural activity required to properly perform
the desired movement.

The importance of sensory pathways in planning movements is demonstrated by

the fact that when these pathways are impaired, a person has not only sensory
deficits but also slow and uncoordinated voluntary movement.

The information determined by the motor program is transmitted via descending

pathways to the local level of the motor control hierarchy.

There, the axons of the motor neurons projecting to the muscles exit the
brainstem or spinal cord.
The local level of the hierarchy includes afferent neurons, motor neurons, and
interneurons.

Local-level neurons determine exactly which motor neurons will be activated to

achieve the desired action and when this will happen.

The descending pathways to the local level arise only in the sensorimotor cortex and
brainstem.

The term sensorimotor cortex is used to include all those parts of the cerebral cortex
that act together to control muscle movement.

Afferent information about the position of the body and its parts in space is called
proprioception.
Conceptual Motor Control Hierarchy for Voluntary Movements:
I. Higher centers:
Structures: areas involved with memory, emotions and motivation, and
sensorimotor cortex. All these structures receive and correlate input from
many other brain structures.

Function: forms complex plans according to individual’s intention and

communicates with the middle level via command neurons.
II. The middle level:
Structures: sensorimotor cortex, cerebellum, parts of basal nuclei, some
brainstem nuclei.

Function: converts plans received from higher centers to a number of

smaller motor programs that determine the pattern of neural activation
required to perform the movement. These programs are broken down into
subprograms that determine the movements of individual joints. The
programs and subprograms are transmitted through descending pathways to
the local control level.
III. The local level:
Structures: brainstem or spinal cord interneurons, afferent neurons, motor
neurons.

Function: specifies tension of particular muscles and angle of specific

joints at specific times necessary to carry out the programs and subprograms
transmitted from the middle control levels.
Voluntary Actions:
The movement is accompanied by a conscious awareness of what we
are doing and why we are doing it, and
Our attention is directed toward the action or its purpose.
Involuntary Actions:
The term involuntary, on the other hand, describes actions that do not
have these characteristics.
Unconscious, automatic
 Local
The local control systems are the relay points
Control of for instructions to the motor neurons from
centers higher in the motor control hierarchy.
Motor
Neurons
 In addition, the local control systems are very important in adjusting motor unit
activity
 The local control systems use information carried by afferent fibers from sensory
receptors in the muscles, tendons, joints, and skin of the body parts to be moved

Interneurons
 Interneurons (also called internuncial neurons, association neurons, connector
neurons, intermediate neurons or local circuit neurons) are neurons that connect to
brain regions, i.e. not direct motor neurons or sensory neurons.
 Interneurons comprise 90% of spinal cord neurons, and they are of several types.
 Moreover, interneurons can act as “switches” that allow a movement to be turned
on or off under the command of higher motor centers.
Local Afferent Input
The afferent fibers carry information from sensory receptors located in three places:
1- In the skeletal muscles controlled by the motor neurons;
2- In other nearby muscles
3- In the tendons, joints, and skin of body parts affected by the action of the
muscle.
These receptors monitor the length and tension of the muscles, movement of
the joints and the effect of movements on the overlying skin
Length-Monitoring Systems:
Stretch receptors embedded within muscles monitor muscle length and
the rate of change in muscle length called muscle-spindle stretch
receptors.

These receptors consist of peripheral endings of afferent nerve fibers

wrapped around modified muscle fibers, several of which are enclosed in
a connective-tissue capsule. The entire apparatus is collectively called a
muscle spindle.

The modified muscle fibers within the spindle are known as intrafusal
fibers.

The skeletal muscle fibers that form the bulk of the muscle and generate
its force and movement are the extrafusal fibers.
The Stretch Reflex:
Muscle contraction in response to stretching within the muscle is called stretch
reflex.
The afferent fibers from the muscle spindle enter the central nervous system, they
divide into branches that take different paths.
1. Path A makes excitatory synapses directly onto motor neurons

2. Path B, the branches of the afferent nerve fibers from stretch receptors end
on inhibitory interneurons.
3. Path C, activates motor neurons of synergistic muscles

4. Path D, is not clear part of the stretch reflex; it reveals that information about
changes in muscle length.
Tension-Monitoring Systems:
 The tension depends on muscle length, the load on the muscles, and the degree
of muscle fatigue.
 The receptors employed in this tension-monitoring system are the Golgi

tendon organs, which are endings of afferent nerve fibers that wrap around
collagen bundles in the tendons near their junction with the muscle.
 These collagen bundles are slightly bent/curved in the resting state. When the

muscle is stretched or contract, tension is exerted on the tendon.

 This tension straightens the collagen bundles

The muscle spindle provides local homeostatic control of muscle length, and
the Golgi tendon organ provides local homeostatic control of muscle tension.
The Withdrawal Reflex:

For example, painful stimulation of the skin, as occurs from stepping on a tack,
activates the flexor muscles and inhibits the extensor muscles of the ipsilateral
leg (on the same side of the body).
The resulting action moves the affected limb away from the harmful stimulus and
is thus known as a withdrawal reflex
 The Brain
Motor
Centers and The motor centers in the brain and the
the descending pathways that direct the local control
system
Descending
Pathways
They Control
Cerebral Cortex
 Functioning in both the highest and middle levels of the motor control hierarchy.
 Critical function in both the planning and ongoing control of voluntary movements.

The primary motor cortex

The premotor area
The supplementary motor
cortex
The somatosensory cortex.
Parts of the parietal-lobe
association cortex.
Subcortical and Brainstem Nuclei
 Numerous highly interconnected structures lie in the brainstem and within the
cerebrum beneath the cortex, where they interact with the cortex to control
movements.
 Subcortical and brainstem nuclei are also important in learning skilled movements.
Parkinson’s Disease:
In Parkinson’s disease, the input to the basal nuclei is diminished, the interplay of
the facilitatory and inhibitory circuits is unbalanced, and activation of the motor
cortex is reduced.

Clinically, Parkinson’s disease is characterized by a reduced amount of

movement (akinesia), slow movements (bradykinesia), muscular rigidity, and a
tremor at rest.
Cerebellum
 The cerebellum is located dorsally to the brainstem. It influences posture and
movement
 The cerebellum receives information from the sensorimotor cortex and also from the

vestibular system, eyes, skin, muscles, joints, and tendons that is, from some of the
very receptors that movement affects.
 The cerebellum also participates in planning movements, integrating information

about the nature of an intended movement with information about the surrounding
space.
 Unstable posture and awkward gait are two other symptoms characteristic of

cerebellar disease.
Descending Pathways
The pathways are of two types:
The corticospinal pathways, originate in the cerebral cortex;
The brainstem pathways, which originate in the brainstem.
Corticospinal Pathway:
The nerve fibers of the corticospinal pathways have their cell bodies in
the sensorimotor cortex and terminate in the spinal cord.
The corticospinal pathways are also called the pyramidal tracts or
pyramidal system because of their triangular shape
The skeletal muscles on the left side of the body are therefore controlled
largely by neurons in the right half of the brain, and vice versa.
Brainstem Pathways:
These pathways are sometimes referred to as the extrapyramidal system.
Axons of most of the brainstem pathways affect muscles on the same side
of the body.
The brainstem descending pathways, are involved more with coordination
of the large muscle groups used in the maintenance of upright posture, in
locomotion, and in head and body movements when turning toward a
specific stimulus.
 Muscle tone is defined as the state of continuous
and passive partial contraction of muscle with
certain tension. It is also called tonus.

Muscle Tone when a skeletal muscle is relaxed, there is a

slight and uniform resistance when it is stretched
by an external force. This resistance is known as
muscle tone.
Muscle tone plays an important role in maintenance of posture.
Change in muscle tone permits movement of different parts of the body.
Development of Muscle Tone:
1. Gamma motor neurons and muscle spindle are responsible for the
development and maintenance of muscle tone. Muscle tone is purely a
reflex process. This reflex is a spinal segmental reflex.
2. It is developed by continual synchronous discharge of motor impulses
from the gamma motor neurons.
Sequence of events:
1. Impulses from the gamma motor neurons cause contraction of end portions
of intrafusal fibers (stimulus).
2. This stretches and activates the central portion of the intrafusal fibers,
which initiates the reflex action for development of muscle tone by
discharging the impulses.
3. Impulses from the central portion of intrafusal fibers pass through primary
sensory nerve fibers (afferent fibers) and reach the anterior gray horn of
spinal cord.
4. These impulses stimulate the alpha motor neurons in anterior gray horn
(center)
5.Alpha motor neurons in turn, send impulses to extrafusal fibers of the
muscle through spinal nerve fibers (efferent fibers)
6. These impulses produce partial contraction of the muscle fibers resulting in
development of muscle tone (response).
Abnormal Muscle Tone
Abnormally high muscle tone, called hypertonia

Spasticity is a form of hypertonia in which the muscles do not develop

increased tone until they are stretched a bit.

Hypotonia is a condition of abnormally low muscle tone accompanied by

weakness, atrophy (a decrease in muscle bulk), and decreased or absent
reflex responses.
 The skeleton supporting the body is a system of
Maintenance long bones and a many-jointed spine that cannot
stand erect against the forces of gravity
of Upright
The muscles that maintain upright posture that is,
Posture and support the body’s weight against gravity are
Balance controlled by the brain and by reflex mechanisms
“wired into” the neural networks of the brainstem
and spinal cord.
For stability, the center of gravity
must be kept within the base of
support the feet provide.
Once the center of gravity has
moved beyond this base, the body
will fall
There are many familiar examples of
using reflexes to maintain upright
posture; one is the crossed-extensor
reflex.
As one leg is flexed and lifted off the
ground, the other is extended more
strongly to support the weight of the
body, and the positions of various parts of
the body are shifted to move the center of
gravity over the single, weight-bearing
leg.
This shift in the center of gravity, is an
important component in the stepping
mechanism of locomotion.
 Walking requires the coordination of many
muscles, each activated to a specific degree at a
specific time.
Walking These pattern generators are controlled by
corticospinal and brainstem descending pathways
 We initiate walking by allowing the body to fall forward to an stable position
and then moving one leg forward to provide support.
 When the extensor muscles are activated on the supported side of the body to
bear the body’s weight, the contralateral extensors are inhibited by reciprocal
innervation
 The cyclical, alternating movements of walking.
 Moreover, higher and middle levels of the motor control hierarchy are
necessary for postural control, voluntary commands, and adaptations to the
environment.
Reference Book

Principles of ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY

GERARD J. TORTORA/BRYAN DERRICKSON
(Chapter13-, Page #474-483)
Reference
 Vander's Human Physiology: The
Mechanisms Of Body Function.