PSYC 301 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Athetosis, Neuroprotection, Gene Therapy
Document Summary
Primary region (only involved in making muscles contract) Hemiparesis: paresis: weakness, more common, some movement is preserved. Loss of movement affects 75% of stroke victims: 25% will have minor impairment. Difficulty moving hand, clenching: 50% moderate to severe impairment. Difficulty moving/extending wrist, eventually arm gets stuck closer to body: 25% very severe impairment, high risk of death. M1 has large representation for hand function. Primate hands are highly specialized over the course of evolution for finger control. Can lower-motor tracts regain upper-limb function: no, they are not as important as the cortical spinal tract, they can help with gross movement (getting back movement in shoulder/elbow/wrist) Plasticity within the injured hemisphere mediates behavior recovery. Monkey: lesion made, nothing was done, monkeys were to use/not use arm as they wish. What about plasticity between hemispheres: plasticity changes between the two hemispheres after stroke. When squeeze, the opposite side of the brain is supposed to light up.
