PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY

OTHER SENSORY SYSTEMS

• The ears of the green tree frog, Hyla cinerea, are most • People communicate emotion by alterations in pitch,
sensitive to sounds at the frequencies prominent in the adult loudness, and timbre.
male’s mating call o The way you say “that was interesting” could
• Mosquitoes evolved a special receptor that detects the odor indicate approval (it really was interesting)
of human sweat—and therefore helps them find us and bite o Sarcasm (it really was boring)
us o Suspicion (you think someone was hinting
• Bats locate insects by emitting sonar waves at 20,000 to something)
100,000 hertz (Hz, cycles per second), well above the range • Conveying emotional information by tone of voice is
of adult human hearing known as prosody.
• Our senses have evolved to allow us to detect and interpret o Prosody - Prosody refers to intonation, stress
biologically useful information from our environment. pattern, loudness variations, pausing, and
However, we do not detect all sensory information in the rhythm.
world. o We express prosody mainly by varying pitch,
• Some sensory information lies beyond our ability to detect it. loudness, and duration.
o We also may use greater articulatory force to
AUDITORY emphasize a word or phrase.
Sound and the Ear
Structure of the Ear
• Human hearing is sensitive to sounds that vibrate the
Anatomists distinguish between
eardrum
• The outer ear
• Footsteps in your home or a snapped twig in the forest,
you know you are not alone. • The middle ear
• Hear breathing, you know some person or animal is • The inner ear
close. Outer ear
• Hear the sound of a familiar friendly voice • Pinna, the familiar structure of flesh and cartilage
attached to each side of the head
Physics and Psychology of Sounds o it helps us locate the source of a sound.
o altering the reflections of sound waves into the
- Sound waves are periodic compression of air, water, or
middle ear from the outer ear
other media.
Middle ear
o When a tree falls, the tree and the ground
• The middle ear contains the tympanic membrane, or
vibrate, setting up sound waves in the air that
eardrum, which vibrates at the same rate when struck
strike the ears.
by sound waves
- Sound waves vary in amplitude and frequency.
• It connects to three tiny bones that transmit the vibrations
• Amplitude of a sound wave is its intensity
to the oval window, a membrane of the inner ear
• Frequency of a sound is the number of
• These bones the smallest bones in the body, are
compressions per second, measured in hertz (Hz,
sometimes known by their English names (hammer,
cycles per second)
anvil, and stirrup) and sometimes by their Latin names
• Pitch is the related aspect of perception (high to
(malleus, incus, and stapes).
low).
Inner ear
• Sounds higher in frequency are higher in pitch.
• When the stirrup vibrates the oval window, it sets into
• Children hear higher frequencies than adults motion the fluid in the cochlea - the snail-shaped
• Most adult humans hear sounds starting at about 15 to structure of the inner ear.
20 Hz and ranging up to almost 20,000 Hz o Contains three fluid-filled tunnels (scala vestibuli,
o the ability to perceive high frequencies scala media, & the scala tympani)
decreases with age and exposure to loud • Hair cells, auditory receptors, lie between the basilar
noises membrane of the cochlea on one side and the tectorial
• Larger animals hear best at lower pitches, and small membrane on the other
animals hear higher pitches. o Vibrations in the fluid of the cochlea displace the
• Timbre - meaning tone quality or tone complexity. hair cells, thereby opening ion channels in its
o For example, any instrument playing a note at membrane
256 Hz will simultaneously produce sound at Pitch Perception
128 Hz, 512 Hz, and so forth, known as
• Your ability to understand speech or enjoy music
harmonics of the principal note.
depends on your ability to differentiate among sounds
of different frequencies. How do you do it?
Place Theory The Auditory Cortex
• The basilar membrane resembles the strings of a piano, Primary auditory cortex (area A1 in the superior temporal cortex)
with each area along the membrane tuned to a specific • It is the destination for most information from the
frequency. auditory system
• This theory each frequency activates the hair cells at o Located in the superior temporal cortex
only one place along the basilar membrane, and the o Each hemisphere receives most of its
nervous system distinguishes among frequencies information from the opposite ear
based on which neurons respond. • The auditory system has a pathway in the anterior
• The downfall of this theory is that the various parts of temporal cortex specialized for identifying sounds, and a
the basilar membrane are bound together too tightly for pathway in the posterior temporal cortex and the parietal
any part to resonate like a piano string. cortex specialized for locating sounds
• Patients with damage in area MT become motion blind
Frequency Theory • Patients with damage in parts of the superior temporal
• the entire basilar membrane vibrates in synchrony with cortex become motion deaf
a sound, causing auditory nerve axons to produce action o They hear sounds, but they do not detect that a
potentials at the same frequency. source of a sound is moving
o A sound at 50 Hz would cause 50 action • Visual cortex is active during visual imagery, area A1
potentials per second in the auditory nerve. responds to imagined sounds as well as real ones.
• The downfall of this theory the refractory period of a • Superior temporal cortex contains area MT
neuron, though variable among neurons, is typically o Allows detection of the motion of sound
about 1/ second, so the maximum firing 1,000 rate of a • Area A1 is important for auditory imagery
neuron is about 1000 Hz, far short of the highest o It becomes active when people view short silent
frequencies we hear. videos that suggest sound—such as someone
playing a piano, or a glass vase shattering on
The current pitch theory combines modified versions of both the the ground.
place theory and frequency theory: • The cortex is necessary for the advanced processing of
• Low frequency sounds best explained by the frequency hearing
theory o Damage to A1 does not necessarily cause
• High frequency sounds best explained by place theory deafness unless damage extends to the
subcortical areas.
Volley Principle of Pitch Discrimination o Damage to the primary visual cortex (area V1)
• The auditory nerve as a whole produces volley of leaves someone blind, damage to the primary
impulses for sounds up to about 4000 per second, even auditory cortex does not produce deafness.
though no individual axon approaches that frequency People with damage to the primary auditory
o Hearing of higher frequencies not well cortex have trouble with speech and music,
understood. but they can identify and localize single
sounds
Individual Differences • The auditory cortex provides a tonotopic map in which
Amusia (Tone Deafness) cells in the primary auditory cortex are more responsive
• Not really unable to detect differences in tones, they to preferred tones
generally do not detect a change less than about the o Some cells respond better to complex sounds
difference between C and C-sharp than pure tones.
• Impaired detection of frequency changes • Surrounding the primary auditory cortex are the
• Associated with thicker than average auditory cortex in secondary auditory cortex and additional areas that
the right hemisphere but fewer connections from auditory respond best to relevant natural sounds (Cells outside
cortex to frontal cortex A1 respond to auditory “objects”)
• Implication is that amusia results from either an o Animal calls, birdsong, machinery noises,
impairment of the prefrontal cortex, or input to it from the music, and speech
auditory cortex. • Auditory cortex is important not just for hearing, but also
for thinking about concepts related to hearing.
Absolute Pitch (“Perfect Pitch”) • People with damage to the auditory cortex performed
• The ability to hear a note and identify it normally, except for words relating to sounds.
• Genetic predisposition may contribute to it
• Main determinant is early and extensive musical training Hearing Loss
• More common among people who speak tonal Two categories of hearing impairment include:
languages • Conductive or middle ear deafness
• Nerve deafness or inner ear deafness
 Mechanical Senses
Conductive / Middle Ear Deafness
• Occurs if bones of the middle ear fail to transmit sound • Mechanical senses respond to pressure, bending, or
waves properly to the cochlea. Result is sometimes other distortions of a receptor.
temporary. o These include touch, pain, and other body
sensations, as well as vestibular sensation,
• Caused by disease, infections, or tumorous bone
which detects the position and movement of
growth
the head.
• Can be corrected by surgery or hearing aids that
amplify the stimulus Vestibular Senses
• Normal cochlea and normal auditory nerve allow people • Vestibular sense refers to the system that detects the
to hear their own voice clearly position and the movement of the head
o Tilt and the amount of acceleration of the head
Nerve / Inner-Ear Deafness o Guiding eye movements and maintaining balance.
• Results from damage to the cochlea, the hair cells, or o The vestibular organ is in the ear and is adjacent
the auditory nerve to the cochlea
• Can vary in degree • Vestibular organ, consists of the saccule, utricle, and
• Can be confined to one part of the cochlea three semicircular canals. The vestibular receptors are
o People can hear only certain frequencies modified touch receptors
• Can be inherited or caused by prenatal problems or early • Calcium carbonate particles called otoliths lie next to the
childhood disorders, it can result from disease, or it can hair cells.
result from exposure to loud noises. o Head tilts in different directions, the otoliths
o Soldiers, Constructions workers, Rock band push against different sets of hair cells and
fans excite them
o The otoliths tell the brain which direction you
Tinnitus
are moving, but they also record which direction
• is a frequent or constant ringing in the ears
the head tilts when you are at rest
• the term for hearing sounds that come from inside your
• Three semicircular canals, oriented in perpendicular
body, rather than from an outside source.
planes, are filled with a fluid and lined with hair cells.
• It's often described as "ringing in the ears", although o Jellylike substance and hair cells that are
several sounds can be heard, including: activated when the head moves
• Buzzing, Humming, Grinding, hissing, whistling
Structures for Vestibular Sensation
Sound Localization a. Location of the vestibular organs.
Determining the direction and distance of a sound requires b. Structures of the vestibular organs.
comparing the responses of the two ears. c. Cross section through an utricle. Calcium carbonate
• Time of Arrival particles, called otoliths, press against different hair
A sound coming directly from one side reaches your cells depending on the tilt and acceleration of the head.
closer ear about 600 microseconds (μs) before the
other. A smaller difference in arrival times indicates a Somatosensation
sound source nearer to your midline.
• Somatosensory system, the sensation of the body and
Difference in time of arrival at the two ears most useful
its movements, is not one sense but many, including
for localizing sounds with sudden onset
discriminative touch
o Deep pressure, cold, warmth, pain, itch, tickle,
• Sound Shadow
and the position and movement of joints
For high-frequency sounds, with a wavelength shorter
than the width of the head, the head creates a sound
Somatosensory Receptors
shadow making the sound louder for the closer ear.
High-frequency sounds (2000 to 3000Hz) create a
“sound shadow”

• Phase Difference
If a sound originates to the side of the head, the sound
wave strikes the two ears out of phase. Provide
information that is useful for localizing sounds
with frequencies up to about 1500 Hz in humans
 • Pacinian corpuscle • Primary somatosensory cortex is essential for touch
o Type of touch receptor which detects experiences.
vibrations or sudden displacements on the • Damage to the somatosensory cortex impairs body
skin. perceptions
o The onion-like outer structure provides o Patient who had damage in the somatosensory
mechanical support that resists gradual or cortex had trouble putting her clothes on
constant pressure. correctly. Also, she could not point correctly in
o Sudden or high frequency vibrations, stimulus response to such directions as “show me your
bends the membrane, enabling sodium ions to elbow,” although she pointed correctly to
enter, depolarizing the membrane objects in the room.
• One patient had an illness that destroyed all the
• Merkel disks myelinated somatosensory axons from below his nose
o Receptors that respond to light touch (i.e., but spared his unmyelinated axons.
gentle stroking of the skin) o He still felt temperature, pain, and itch,
o Men and women generally have the same because they depend on the unmyelinated
number of Merkel disks, but women tend to axons. However, he had no conscious
have smaller fingers perception of touch, which depends on
o Results in Merkel disks compacted into a myelinated axons
smaller area
o More sensitive to feeling the distances between Pain
grooves
o Woman can detect grooves about 1.4 mm, Men • Pain is unique among senses because it always evokes
need the grooves to be about 1.6 mm apart. an emotion
o Cold-sensitive neurons adapt quickly. Heat- o Depression
sensitive neurons in the spinal cord respond to o Unmotivated
the absolute temperature, and they do not adapt. • Pain is the experience evoked by a harmful stimulus,
directs our attention, and holds it
• Capsaicin • Pain sensation begins with the least specialized of all
o A chemical found in hot peppers such as receptors (bare nerve endings)
jalapeños, stimulates the receptors for painful • Some pain receptors also respond to acids, heat, or cold.
heat.
o Produce burning or stinging sensations on Stimuli and Spinal Cord Paths
many parts of your body. • Pain sensation begins with the least specialized of all
o Szechuan peppers stimulate the heat receptors, receptors, a bare nerve ending
give a tingling sensation o Axons carrying pain information have little or no
o Menthol and mint stimulate the coolness myelin, they conduct impulses relatively slowly,
receptor. in the range of 2 to 20 meters per second (m/s).
o Thicker and faster axons convey sharp pain.
Somatosensation in the Central Nervous System Thinner ones convey duller pain
• Information from touch receptors in the head enters the • Mild pain releases - Glutamate
CNS through cranial nerves. • Stronger pain releases - Glutamate & Neuropeptides
• Information from receptors below the head enters the (Substance P and CGRP)
spinal cord and travel through the 31 spinal nerves to o Substance P - modulator of pain perception
the brain o CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide) - plays
o 8 cervical nerves, 12 thoracic nerves, 5 lumbar a key role in pain modulation in the brain
nerves, 5 sacral nerves, and 1 coccygeal nerve. • Pain-sensitive cells in the spinal cord relay information to
• Each spinal nerve has a sensory component and a motor several sites in the brain
component. Each spinal nerve innervates (connects to) o Ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus
a limited area of the body called a dermatome. o Amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and
o For example, the third thoracic nerve (T3) anterior cingulate cortex are associated with
innervates a strip of skin just above the nipples emotional association
as well as the underarm area. o Somatosensory cortex - to painful stimuli,
• Somatosensory information—such as touch, memories of pain, and signals that warn of
pressure, and pain—travel through the spinal cord in impending pain
separate pathways toward the thalamus
• Sends impulses to different areas of the primary Emotional Pain
somatosensory cortex, located in the parietal lobe. • Painful stimuli also activate a path that goes through the
medulla, and then to the thalamus, and then to the
 amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and anterior chemicals that help repair the damage but also magnify
cingulate cortex the responses of nearby heat and pain receptors.
• These areas react not to the sensation itself but to its • Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen,
emotional aspect relieve pain by reducing the release of chemicals from
o Watching someone you care experience damaged tissues
physical pain • Some people suffer chronic pain long after an injury has
o Romantic breakup healed.
o Certain receptors become potentiated after an
Ways of Relieving Pain intense barrage of painful stimuli
Opioids and Endorphins o To prevent chronic pain (undergoing surgery)
• Opioid mechanisms - brakes on prolonged pain ▪ Take medication to relieve pain before the
o Are systems that are sensitive and respond to surgery.
opiate drugs and similar chemicals. ▪ Begin medication soon after awakening from
o Opiates bind to receptors found mostly in the surgery.
spinal cord and the periaqueductal gray area of ▪ Postpone the medication as long as possible
the midbrain and take as little as possible
o Nervous system has its own opiate-type
chemicals. The transmitters that attach to the
same receptors as morphine are known as The Chemical Senses
endorphins - contraction of endogenous
morphine Chemical Coding
▪ Brain produces several types of - Labeled-line principle - each receptor would respond to
endorphins a limited range of stimuli, and the meaning would depend
Gate theory to a limited range of stimuli, and the meaning would
- Ronald Melzack and P. D. Wall (1965) explain why some depend entirely on which neuron is active.
people withstand pain better than others and why the • Ex. Running a bakery and need to send message to your
same injury hurts worse at some times than others. supplier down the street.
- This suggest that spinal cord neurons that receive o Use communication using the three large bells
messages from pain receptors also receive input from on your roof
touch receptors and from axons descending from the ▪ High-pitched bell - flour
brain. ▪ Medium pitched bell - sugar
• Close the “gates” for the pain messages—and they do so ▪ Low-pitched bell – eggs
at least partly by releasing endorphins. - Across-fiber pattern principle - each receptor responds to
a wider range of stimuli, and a given response by a given
Cannabinoids and Capsaicin axon men’s little except in comparison to what other
Cannabinoids—chemicals derived from or similar to marijuana— axons are doing.
block certain kinds of pain
• Can produce problems of their own, including memory Taste
impairment • Taste results from stimulation of the taste buds, the
• Cannabinoids for pain relief has not been extensive receptors on the tongue.
• Act mainly in the periphery of the body rather than the • Our perception of flavor is the combination of both taste
CNS and smell
o Taste and smell axons converge onto many of
Placebo the same cells in an area called the
endopiriform cortex
• A drug or other procedure with no pharmacological
effects.
Taste Receptors
• People who receive placebos do not just say the pain
• Receptors for taste are modified skin cells
decreased; scans of the brain and spinal cord also
show a decreased response • Taste receptors have excitable membranes and release
neurotransmitters to excite neighboring neurons, which
• Placebos reduce pain but they produce an even greater
in turn transmit information to the brain
effect on the emotional response to pain, as recorded in
the cingulate cortex • Taste receptors are replaced every 10 to 14 days.
• Papillae are structures on the surface of the tongue that
contain the taste buds
Sensitization of Pain o Papilla may contain up to 10 or more taste buds
• Damaged or inflamed tissue, such as sunburned skin, o Each taste bud contains about 50 receptor
releases histamine, nerve growth factor, and other cells.
 o Most taste buds are located along the outside - The sense of smell, is the response to chemicals that
edge of the tongue in humans contact the membranes inside the nose.
• Mammals, olfaction is critical for finding food and mates
Kinds of Taste Receptors and for avoiding dangers.
• Western society have described tastes in terms of • People with certain diseases have a characteristic,
sweet, sour, salty, and bitter unpleasant odor, and people who avoid that odor
• Evidence suggests a fifth type of glutamate receptor decrease the risk of contagion
(umami) • Olfaction is especially important for our food selection.
• Procedures that alter one receptor but not others can • Humans tend to prefer the smell of potential romantic
be used to identify taste receptors partners who smell different from themselves and their
o Adaptation - refers to reduced perception of a family members
stimuli due to the fatigue of receptors • Decreases the risk of inbreeding
o Cross-adaptation - refers to reduced response • Increases the probability that children will have a wide
to one stimulus after exposure to another range of immunities

Mechanisms of Taste Receptors Olfactory Receptors

• The saltiness receptor permits sodium ions to cross the • Neurons responsible for smell are the olfactory cells that
membrane line the olfactory epithelium in the rear of the nasal air
o Results in an action potential passages
• Sour receptors detect the presence of acids o In mammals, each olfactory cell has cilia
• Sweetness, bitterness, and umami receptors activate a (threadlike dendrites) that extend from the cell
G protein that releases a second messenger in the cell body into the mucous surface of the nasal
when a molecule binds to a receptor passage
• Bitter chemicals also trigger receptors in the nose, o Olfactory receptors are located on the cilia.
provoking coughing and sneezing if you happen to inhale
them. Messages to the Brain
o Bitter chemicals are toxic, and the body does • When an olfactory receptor is stimulated, its axon carries
anything it can to expel them an impulse to the olfactory bulb
• Axons find their way to the same target cells in the
Nucleus of the tractus solitarius (NTS) -a structure in the olfactory bulb, such that chemicals of similar smell excite
medulla where taste nerves project. neighboring areas, and chemicals of different smell
• To the pons, the lateral hypothalamus, the amygdala, the excite more separated areas
ventral-posterior thalamus, and two areas of the cerebral • The olfactory bulb sends axons to the olfactory area of
cortex the cerebral cortex
• The somatosensory cortex, responds to the touch
aspects of tongue stimulation. Olfactory
• Insula, is the primary taste cortex. • Olfactory receptors are vulnerable to damage because
o The insula in each hemisphere of the cortex they are exposed to the air.
receives input from both sides of the tongue • An olfactory receptor has an average survival time of just
over a month
Variations in Taste Sensitivity • Individual differences in olfaction exist
• Genetic factors and hormones can account for some o Experience some smells as stronger, some as
difference in taste sensitivity weaker
• Variations in taste sensitivity are related to the number of o Some as more pleasant, and some as less
fungiform papillae near the tip of the tongue pleasant.
o Supertasters - tend to dislike strongly flavored Pheromones
foods, especially foods that taste very bitter to Vomeronasal organ (VNO) is a set of receptors located near, but
them, but only mildly bitter to other people. separate from, the olfactory receptors.
More taste buds • Unlike olfactory receptors, the VNO receptors respond
o Nontasters - fewest taste buds. —taste it only only to pheromones, chemicals released by an animal
at high concentrations that affect the behavior of other members of the same
species
• The VNO and pheromones are important for most
mammals, but less so for humans
Olfaction o The VNO is tiny in human adults and has no
receptors
Olfaction
Synesthesia Located in the tendons at opposite ends of a
- Synesthesia is the experience some people have in muscle, they act as a brake against an
which stimulation of one sense evokes a perception of excessively vigorous contraction.
that sense and another one also
• “To me, the taste of beef is dark blue. The smell of
almonds is pale orange” Units of Movement
• Associate smells with visual experiences, particularly
colors. Voluntary and Involuntary Movements
• Reflexes - are consistent automatic responses to
stimuli.
o We generally think of reflexes as involuntary
MOVEMENT because they are insensitive to reinforcements,
punishments, a motivation.
The Control of Movement ▪ We generally think of reflexes as
• Brain controls behaviors, and behaviors are movements involuntary because they are
• No matter how powerful the internal process of a brain, it insensitive to reinforcements,
would be useless without muscles. punishments, and motivations.
• Stretch reflex (The knee-jerk reflex)
Muscles and Their Movements • Constriction of the pupil in response to bright light
• Vertebrate muscles fall into three categories:
Movements Varying in Sensitive of Feedback
o Smooth muscles that control the digestive
system and other organs • A ballistic movement, such as a reflex, is executed as a
o Skeletal or striated muscles that control whole: Once initiated, it cannot be altered.
movement of the body in relation to the o Throwing a pitch (baseball)
environment o Taking a swing (baseball)
o Cardiac muscles that control the heart. o Throwing a punch (boxing)
• Each muscle is composed of many fibers
Sequence of Behavior
• Muscle fiber receives information from only one axon,
• Central pattern generators - neural mechanisms in the
and axon may innervate more than one muscle fiber
spinal cord that generate rhythmic patterns of motor
o Eye muscles have a ratio of about one axon per
output.
three muscle fibers
o Once activated it can produce rhythmic motor
o Biceps muscles of the arm have a ratio of one
patterns such as
axon to more than a hundred fibers
▪ Walking
• Neuromuscular junction - is a synapse between a
▪ Breathing
motor neuron axon and a muscle fiber
▪ Flying
o Acetylcholine - is excitatory at the
▪ Swimming
neuromuscular junction in skeletal muscle,
• A fixed sequence of movements is called a motor
causing the muscle to contract.
program
o Each muscle makes just one movement, a
o Motor program can be gained or lost through
contraction.
evolution.
o Moving a leg or arm back and forth requires
▪ Yawning - prolonged open-mouth
opposing sets of muscles, called antagonistic
inhalation, often accompanied by
muscles.
stretching, and a shorter exhalation
▪ At your elbow, for example, your flexor
▪ Smiles, frowns, and the raised
muscle brings your hand toward your
eyebrow greeting
shoulder and your extensor muscle
straightens the arm
Brain Mechanism of Movement
Muscle Control by Proprioceptors The Cerebral Cortex
• Proprioceptors control the movement • Primary Motor Cortex—the precentral gyrus of the
• A proprioceptor (from the Latin proprius, meaning “one’s frontal cortex, just anterior to the central sulcus—elicits
own”) is a receptor that detects the position or movement movements.
of a part of the body—in these cases, a muscle. o Gustav Fritsch and Eduard Hitzig (1870),
o Muscle spindle - a receptor parallel to the neuroscientists who did a direct electrical
muscle that responds to a stretch. stimulation
o Golgi tendon organs, also proprioceptors, • The cerebral cortex is particularly important for complex
respond to increases in muscle tension. actions such as talking or writing.
 • The primary motor cortex is also active when you ▪ Lack of mirror neurons might be
imagine movements, remember movements, or responsible for autism or
understand verbs related to movement schizophrenia, disorders associated
with deficient social relationships.
Planning a Movement
• One of the first areas to become active in planning a Connection from the Brain to the Spinal Cord
movement is the posterior parietal cortex • Corticospinal tracts - Paths from the cerebral cortex to
o Part of the cortex is proportionately larger in the spinal cord.
humans than in most other primates, reflecting o Lateral corticospinal tract
its enhanced role in selecting appropriate o Medial corticospinal tract
actions ▪ Both tracts contribute to nearly all
o People with posterior parietal damage have movements
trouble finding objects in space, even after • Lateral corticospinal tract is a pathway of axons from
describing their appearance accurately. the primary motor cortex, surrounding areas of the
• The prefrontal cortex and the supplementary motor cortex, and from the red nucleus, a midbrain area that
cortex are also important for planning and organizing a controls certain aspects of movement
rapid sequence of movements o Pyramidal tract
o Habitual action o It controls movements in peripheral areas,
o Error in movement, develops ways to inhibit especially the hands and feet
the incorrect movement the next time • Medial corticospinal tract - includes axons from many
• Premotor cortex is most active immediately before a parts of the cerebral cortex, not just the primary motor
movement. It receives information about the target to cortex and its surrounding areas.
which the body is directing its movement, as well as o Midbrain tectum
information about the body’s current position and posture o Reticular formation
• Prefrontal cortex, which is also active during a delay o Vestibular nucleus, a brain area that receives
before a movement, stores sensory information relevant input from the vestibular system
to a movement. • Medial tract controls muscles in the medial parts of the
o It is also important for considering the probable body, including trunk and neck.
outcomes of possible movements
o Damage to this area, many of your movements Cerebellum
would be disorganized - showering with your • Cerebellum is Latin for “little brain.”
clothes • Function of the cerebellum as “balance and
coordination.”
Inhibiting a Movement o People with cerebellar damage do lose
• That is, the brain prepares to inhibit the unwanted action balance and coordination
and substitute a different one. • The cerebellum contains more neurons than the rest of
• Two brain areas are in charge - prefrontal cortex and the brain combined and a huge number of synapses.
basal ganglia
o The traffic light changes from red to green, but Cellular Organization
just as you are about to drive forward, you - Cerebellum receives input from the spinal cord, from the
hear an ambulance siren telling you to get out sensory systems by way of the cranial nerve nuclei, and
of the way. from the cerebral cortex. That information eventually
o You start to swing at a tennis ball in a doubles reaches the cerebellar cortex, the surface of the
match when your partner shouts, “let it go,” cerebellum
because it will land out of bounds.
The Basal Ganglia
Mirror Neurons - Basal ganglia apply collectively to a group of large
• Active both during preparation for a movement and while subcortical structures in the forebrain
watching someone else perform the same or a similar • Caudate nucleus
movement. • Putamen
o Important for understanding other people, • Globus pallidus.
identifying with them, and imitating them. o Self-initiated actions
▪ Mirror neurons in part of the frontal ▪ When you raise your hand to ask a
cortex become active when people question
smile or see someone else smile, and ▪ Need to change lanes to make a turn, you
they respond especially strongly in react slowly
people
 - The caudate nucleus and putamen together are known • especially in the basal ganglia but also in the cerebral
as the striatum or dorsal striatum. cortex
- The striatum receives input from the cerebral cortex and • People with Huntington’s disease also suffer
substantia nigra and sends its output to the globus psychological disorders including apathy, depression,
pallidus, which then sends output to the thalamus and sleeplessness, memory impairment, anxiety,
frontal cortex hallucinations and delusions, poor judgment,
alcoholism, drug abuse, and sexual disorders ranging
Movement Disorders from complete unresponsiveness to indiscriminate
promiscuity.
Parkinson’s Disease • Often occurs between the ages of 30 and 50.
• People over age 65, results from the gradual loss of • Both the psychological and motor symptoms grow
dopamine-releasing axons from the substantia nigra to progressively worse and culminate in death.
the striatum (part of the basal ganglia). Causes
• The primary results are rigidity, muscle tremors, slow • HD is caused by a mutation in the gene for a protein
movements, and difficulty initiating voluntary activity. called huntingtin - caused by a faulty gene
• Another common symptom is a lack of motivation and
pleasure Treatment
• Parkinson’s patients have cognitive deficits, which may • There's currently no cure for Huntington's disease or any
include problems with attention, language, or memory way to stop it getting worse. But treatment and support
can help reduce some of the problems it causes, such
L-Dopa Treatment as:
L-dopa, a precursor to dopamine that does cross the barrier, might o Medicines for depression, mood swings and
be a good treatment. involuntary movements
• Why not a dopamine pill? would be ineffective because o Occupational therapy to help make everyday
dopamine does not cross the blood–brain barrier. tasks easier
• It increases dopamine release in all axons, including o Speech and language therapy for feeding and
those that had deteriorated and those that were still communication problems
functioning normally. o Physiotherapy to help with movement and
• It does not replace other transmitters that are also balance
depleted
• Adverse effects: unpleasant side effects such as nausea,
restlessness, sleep problems, low blood pressure,
repetitive movements, and sometimes hallucinations and
delusions.
Causes
• MPTP-Induced Parkinsonian Syndrome (synthetic
heroin)
• Parkinson’s disease among people with much exposure
to insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides
• Traumatic head injury
• Smoking cigarettes increases the risk of lung cancer
and other diseases more than it decreases the risk of
Parkinson’s disease.
• Genetics

Huntington’s Disease
Also known as Huntington’s chorea - is a severe neurological
disorder.
• Motor symptoms usually begin with arm jerks and facial
twitches.
• Chorea comes from the same root as choreography. The
rhythmic writhing of chorea resembles dancing
• Gradually, the tremors interfere more and more with
walking, speech, and other voluntary movements.
• Disorder is associated with gradual, extensive brain
damage,