PSYC 2410 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8.5-8.8: Corticospinal Tract, Basal Ganglia, Motor Neuron

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2410
• Professor: Boyer Winters

Document Summary

Constitutes 10% of the mass of the brain and contains over 50% of the neurons: organized systematically: lobes, columns, and layers. Receives info from primary and secondary motor cortex: info about descending motor signals from brain stem motor nuclei, feed back from motor responses via the somatosensory and vestibular systems. Believed to play a large role in learning of sequences of movements: especially when timing is crucial. Less neurons than the cerebellum but in one sense considered more complex: organization: complex heterogeneous collection of interconnected nuclei. No fibers contributed to descending motor pathways. Part of neural loop where messages are passed from: various cortical areas > basal ganglia > back via the thalamus > various areas of motor cortex. Function has evolved: modulation of motor output as well as involved in a variety of cognitive functions. Rat experiments: b. g. shown to participate in the learning of correct habitual responses to learned associations.