58 Questions
What is motor learning?
Acquisition and modification of movement important in normal and patient population.
What is habituation in the context of motor learning?
A decrease in responsiveness to repetitive single stimulus.
What does motor learning result from?
Experience or practice.
What is the nature of motor learning?
It involves new strategies for sensing and moving, emerging from perception-cognition-action process.
Which component is included in musculoskeletal components contributing to postural control?
Skeletal system
What allows the body to foresee and prepare for changes in posture?
Feedforward control
What is involved in higher level planning in postural control?
Frontal cortex
What is responsible for coordinating muscle response synergies in postural control?
Brainstem
What does postural control include that changes according to the task and individual characteristics?
Stability limits
What does ideal alignment in standing use the least amount of for energy efficiency?
Muscle contraction
What involves specific muscle activation sequences in response to perturbations?
Muscle synergies
What constantly monitors the length of muscle fibers, contributing to postural adjustments?
Muscle spindles
What kind of control do postural responses involve, in addition to feedback control?
Feedforward control
What is responsible for coordinating muscle response synergies in postural control?
Brainstem
What is involved in higher level planning in postural control?
Frontal cortex
What is responsible for coordinating muscle response synergies in postural control?
Brainstem
Which type of learning leads to automaticity and habits?
Procedural learning
Which theories of motor learning include closed loop processing, open loop processing, and ecological theory?
Ecological theory
What are the stages of motor learning progression?
Cognitive, associative, and autonomous
What is the ability to maintain equilibrium at rest or in motion called?
Balance
Which systems are required for postural control?
Proprioception, vision, and vestibular cochlear systems
What sends signals to the CNS for making necessary postural adjustments?
Afferent neurons
Which part of the brain is important in learning new tasks and coordinating postural adjustments?
Cerebellum
What is the term for maintaining the body within the limits of stability?
Postural control
Which type of learning involves consciously recallable knowledge?
Declarative learning
What are the factors affecting recovery post-injury?
Age, lesion characteristics, and experience
Which type of learning increases neural system responsiveness through sensory and associative learning?
Sensitisation
What is the term for the ability to reduce the difference between anticipation and actual outcomes as learning progresses?
Adaptation
Which age range typically reaches adult levels of spontaneous sway with eyes open?
9 - 12 years
At what age does somatosensory input predominate for balance?
3 - 6 years
At what age does the vestibular system mature?
12 - 15 years
What is the primary sensory input for balance until the age of 3 years?
Visual
At what age do children typically reach visually dominant balance with eyes closed?
9 - 12 years
At what age do children reach adult levels of reactive responses?
12 - 15 years
At what age do children typically have a higher postural sway rate than adults?
3 - 6 years
At what age do children typically have a higher centre of mass than adults?
Under 3 years
At what age do children typically find static balance more difficult to achieve than adults?
Under 3 years
At what age do children typically have a faster rate of control of spontaneous sway in a quiet state?
3 - 6 years
What is a key goal for infants aged 4-6 months in terms of postural control development?
Reaching and grasping toys
What is the last type of postural response to develop in any particular orientation or posture?
Adaptive postural responses
What influences the recruitment of postural adjustment or protective responses in infants?
Speed and strength of the perturbing force
What plays a crucial role in postural control by mapping individual senses to actions?
Vision stimulating action in neck muscles for head righting
Which age range of infants should be able to stand alone with a wide base of support and lumbar lordosis?
9-15 months
What are the key factors influencing postural control development in infants?
Intact musculoskeletal system and proprioceptive, visual, and vestibular systems
At what age range might infants demonstrate commando crawling?
7-9 months
Which type of postural responses are the second line of defense to protect the head from hitting the surface?
Protective responses
What is the term for the ability of the body to foresee and prepare for changes in posture?
Anticipatory postural responses
Which system plays a crucial role in postural control by constantly monitoring the length of muscle fibers?
Proprioceptive system
What is the term for the age at which 50% of babies achieved a specific motor skill?
1st age
Which reflex response involves the arms moving into abduction as a protective response?
Moro reflex
At what age are neonates unable to lift their heads while in a prone position?
Birth - 4 weeks
What does the 2nd age represent in the context of motor skill development?
Age at which 90% of babies achieved the skill
Which action is a reflex response that protects the airways?
Gag reflex
What does the flexor withdrawal reflex involve?
Flexing the hip and lifting the foot when stepping on something sharp
At what age are neonates unable to bring their arms up while in a supine position?
Birth - 4 weeks
Which reflex response involves the infant turning their head in response to a stimulus?
Rooting reflex
What is the term for the reflex response where the infant grasps and sucks their thumb?
Rooting reflex
What does the moro reflex involve as a protective response?
Arms move into abduction
Study Notes
Motor Learning and Postural Control
- Sensitisation increases neural system responsiveness and can occur through sensory learning and associative learning, involving classical and operant conditioning.
- Procedural learning leads to automaticity and habits, while declarative learning results in consciously recallable knowledge.
- Various theories of motor learning include closed loop processing, open loop processing, and ecological theory, with possible stages of cognitive, associative, and autonomous learning.
- Motor learning progresses through novice, advanced, and expert stages, involving control of degrees of freedom and increasing automaticity.
- Practical applications of motor learning include transfer of learning to new tasks/environments, mental practice, feedback, and practice conditions.
- Recovery of function post-injury involves considering recovery versus compensation, stages of recovery, and factors affecting recovery such as age, lesion characteristics, experience, pharmacology, and training quality.
- Postural control involves stability and orientation, with balance as the ability to maintain equilibrium at rest or in motion.
- Postural sway is described as mediolateral or anterior-posterior, and balance involves maintaining the body within the limits of stability.
- Systems required for postural control include environmental perception through proprioception, vision, and vestibular cochlear systems.
- Afferent neurons send signals to the CNS, which makes decisions and sends information to the motor systems via efferent pathways to make necessary postural adjustments.
- The cerebellum anticipates and coordinates postural adjustments and is important in learning new tasks, reducing the difference between anticipation and actual outcomes as learning progresses.
Developmental Milestones in Infants' Postural Control
- Infants aged 4-6 months should achieve prone weight bearing on forearms with some strength against gravity and chin tuck, and they should be able to track objects with their eyes and bring hands and feet to the midline.
- Key goals for infants aged 4-6 months include eye-hand coordination and reaching and grasping toys, while those aged 9-15 months should develop fine pincer grasp and constructive play.
- Infants aged 6-8 months should progress to reaching forward from the base of support and sitting upright, and those aged 7-9 months may demonstrate commando crawling.
- Infants aged 9-15 months should be able to crawl on hands and knees, stand alone with a wide base of support and lumbar lordosis, and squat to play with eccentric control of quadriceps and calf range.
- Postural control development in infants is influenced by intact musculoskeletal system, proprioceptive, visual, and vestibular systems, and maturation and experience.
- There is a large variation in postural control development between females and males, and the process of mapping individual senses to actions, such as vision stimulating action in neck muscles for head righting, is crucial for postural control.
- Infants develop postural responses that are reactive (responding to perturbations) and anticipatory (preparing the body for movement or in anticipation of being perturbed).
- Adaptive postural responses are the last to develop in any particular orientation or posture, and protective responses, such as extension of limbs and movement away from the trunk, act as the second line of defense to protect the head from hitting the surface.
- Postural adjustment or protective response recruitment in infants is influenced by the speed and strength of the perturbing force, and they develop stepping strategies in lower limbs when achieving standing.
Test your knowledge of motor learning and postural control with this quiz. Explore topics such as sensory and associative learning, theories of motor learning, stages of recovery post-injury, postural sway, balance, and the neural systems involved in postural control.
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