NBB 302 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Substantia Nigra, Alpha Motor Neuron, Spinocerebellar Tract

• School: Emory University
• Department: Neuroscience & Behavioral Sci
• Course: NBB 302
• Professor: Gillian Hue

Document Summary

Chapter 8: action: introduction, new synthetic drug sold as heroin --> trigger acute onset of pd. Synthetic was mptp -- toxic for da cells: pd cell death in substantia nigra (brainstem nucleus part of basal ganglia) Stiffness: anatomy and control of motor structures, muscles, motor neurons, and the spinal cord. Alpha motor neurons: innervate fibers and produce contractions of fibers --> ach ; translate nerve signals to mechanical actions (alter length and tension of muscles) Input from muscle spindles : sensory receptors in muscles; provide info on stretch of muscle. Input by spinal interneuron: innervated by afferent sensory nerves (skin, muscles, joints, descending motor fibers: excitatory to agonist, inhibitory to antagonist muscle --> stretch reflex. Gamma motor neurons: part of proprioceptive system; sensing and regulating length of muscle fibers: motor neurons: originate in sc, exit through ventral root, terminate in muscle fibers, subcortical motor structures. Extrapyramidal tracts: projections from vestibular nuclei, reticular formation nuclei, substantia nigra (brainstem)