Lesions in areas of the brain that control movement

Lesions in areas of the brain that control movement

-By Timothy Lyons

Lesions to the primary motor cortex can have an impact that is contextual to the amount of training that was received prior to the lesion. These are considered lesions in areas of the brain that control movement.

The result of the lesion can be mitigated through training but these lesions can change the size of the topography point relating to the specific limb. Other problems exist from this type of lesion that seem to be deficits of manual dexterity such as item retrieval (Friel et al., 2007).

Damage to the posterior parietal cortex can result in two issues, limb and constructional apraxia. Limb apraxia gives rise to problems with voluntary movements such as shaking hands. Constructional apraxia results in difficulty drawing objects or constructing things like puzzles (Carson & Birkett, 2017).

Although lesions to the cerebellum are different based upon their location, in general when the cerebellum is damaged it can cause overall muscle weakness or the inability to string together movements in fluid motion. This can result in a broken stream of movements such that a person trying to feed themselves would have to first move the arm, then the elbow, the hand, etc. (Carson & Birkett, 2017).

Damage to the supplementary motor area can result problems with behavior sequences. These lesions in areas of the brain that control movement can impede a person’s ability to accomplish learned sequences when the first response requires the action of the next. There is further evidence that this area can also affect the ability to mimic or learn movements from others (Carson & Birkett, 2017).

From both (Carson & Birkett, 2017; Purves, Augustine, & Fitzpatrick, 2001) we can see that damage to the subcortical regions can result in many problems. Primarily there can be muscle weakness but there can also be paralysis. These areas are affect by diseases such as Parkinson’s which affects balance and automatic movements and Huntington’s which causes involuntary movement and being unable to stop movement. There can also be types of movement problems that are known as dyskinesia such as gross involuntary facial tics from tardive dyskinesia or jerky movements of affected body parts depending on the region damaged.

References for Lesions in areas of the brain that control movement

The Brain Connection. (2013, March 5). The Anatomy of Movement [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://brainconnection.brainhq.com/2013/03/05/the-anatomy-of-movement/

Carlson, N. R., & Birkett, M. A. (2017). Physiology of Behavior (12 ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

The Free Dictionary. (2003). Somatotopic. In Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health (7 ed.). Retrieved January 22, 2017, from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/somatotopic

Friel, K. M., Barbay, S., Frost, S. B., Plautz, E. J., Stowe, A. M., & Dancause, N.,…Nudo, R. J. (2007). Effects of a Rostral Motor Cortex Lesion on Primary Motor Cortex Hand Representation Topography in Primates. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 21(1), 51-61. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1177/1545968306291851

Price, M. (2011, January). The risks of night work. Monitor on Psychology, 42(1), 38. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/01/night-work.aspx

Purves, D., Augustine, G. J., & Fitzpatrick, D. (Eds.). (2001). Neuroscience (2 ed.). Summerland, MA: Sinauer Associates. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10796/

Stewart, L., Von Kriegstein, K., Warren, J. D., & Griffiths, T. D. (2006). Music and the brain: disorders of musical. Brain, 129(10), 2533-2553. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awl171