Figure 8.3: A pair of antagonistic muscles . The biceps of the arm is a flexor; the triceps is an extensor. (Source: Starr & Taggart, 1989)
Figure 8.7: The major motor areas of the mammalian central nervous system . The cerebral cortex, especially the primary motor cortex, sends axons directly to the medulla and spinal cord. So do the red nucleus, reticular formation, and other brainstem areas. The medulla and spinal cord control muscle movements. The basal ganglia and cerebellum influence movement indirectly through their communication back and forth with the cerebral cortex and brainstem.
Figure 8.8: Principal areas of the motor cortex in the human brain . Cells in the premotor cortex and supplementary motor cortex are active during the planning of movements, even if the movements are never actually executed.
Figure 8.15: Cellular organization of the cerebellum . Parallel fibers (yellow) activate one Purkinje cell after another. Purkinje cells (red) inhibit a target cell in one of the nuclei of the cerebellum (not shown, but toward the bottom of the illustration). The more Purkinje cells that respond, the longer the target cell is inhibited. In this way, the cerebellum controls the duration of a movement.
Figure 8.18: Probability of developing Parkinson’s disease if you have a twin who developed the disease before or after age 50 . Having a monozygotic (MZ) twin develop Parkinson’s disease before age 50 means that you are very likely to get it too. A dizygotic (DZ) twin who gets it before age 50 does not pose the same risk. Therefore, early - onset Parkinson’s disease shows a strong genetic component. However, if your twin develops Parkinson’s disease later (as is more common), your risk is the same regardless of whether you are a monozygotic or dizygotic twin. Therefore, late-onset Parkinson’s disease has little or no heritability. (Source: Based on data of Tanner et al., 1999)