- Prioritizes accuracy 
- Information is cycled through the thing being controlled, and the thing doing the controlling 
- For example, when driving a car, the thing being controlled is the position of the car, while the driver's visual system receives information and makes corrections

Closed-Loop Control Mechanisms

- Prioritizes speed 
- Response is preprogrammed, meaning that the sensory information from the output doesn't affect the input (not a continual feedback loop like closed-loop control)
- For example, when a baseball pitcher throws a ball, the pitch will be completed as fast as possible, without accounting for external sensory information 

Open-Loop Control Mechanisms 

- Similarly to engineering, in order to control movement, the body must take into account two needs: accuracy and speed 
- Two types of control mechanisms (closed and open loop) are able to prioritize one of these needs when controlling movement 

Smith College

- Behavioral view of reflexes
- Control systems for accuracy vs speed
- Spinal cord's role in controling body movement
- Motor cortexes
- Extrapyramidal systems role in motor commands
- Brain disorders and motor impairments

Motor Control 

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

- Our motor cortices help to facilitate the movements of our body in different ways
- There are two motor cortices: 
- Primary Motor Cortex (referred to as M1) 
- Nonprimary motor cortex (which contains the premotor cortex and the supplementary motor area), is anterior to M1 

Motor Cortices

- A motor system that goes from the forebrain to the spinal cord and brainstem
- Includes the basal ganglia and cerebellum (structures of the brain)
- These structures send messages to the spinal cord through the reticulospinal tract and the rubrospinal tract

Extrapyramidal System 

Alzheimer's disease is a specific type of dementia characterized as an irreversible, progressive brain disorder, which is understood to have a genetic basis. It gradually destroys memory and cognitive skills, eventually impairing the ability to perform simple tasks like walking, talking, and eating. This severe cognitive decline is associated with the formation of plaques in the brain resulting from cell death.

Alzheimer's Disease

- When thinking about how a behavior is initiated, researchers have questioned whether it is reflexive (meaning it is caused by a chain of events without intentionality) or planned (which is defined by a motor plan)

Sequence of Initiating Behavior 

Control Systems for Movement 

- Motor neurons control the beginning, end, and organization of muscle movement  
- The spinal cord is involved in motor neuron input
- Therefore, in order to understand how movement is coordinated, the spinal cord's organization (as well as ways in which its disrupted/ how it interacts with the brain) must be understood

Spinal Cord in Controlling Body Movement

- Movement disorders can be caused by disorders of the brain, including the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and cortex

Learn Before

Related

Learn After