PSYC 231 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Thalamus, Acetylcholine, Frontal Lobe
20 Sep 2017
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List and discuss 3 principles of sensorimotor function: hierarchically organized. It has a top-down organization; commands from the association cortex that specify goals cascade down to the muscles. It has a parallel structure; signals flow between levels over multiple pathways. It is characterized by functional segregation; each level is composed of different neural units that have different functions: motor output is guided by sensory input. The sensorimotor system monitors the consequences of its own activities and uses this info to fine-tune its activities (sensory feedback). Ballistic movements are brief all-or-none high speed movements that don"t use sensory feedback. Many adjustments in motor output that occur in response to sensory feedback are controlled unconsciously by lower levels: learning changes the nature and locus of sensorimotor control. During initial stages of motor learning, each individual response occurs under conscious control; but after practice, they become more automatic and their control is transferred to lower levels of the nervous system.
