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Hierarchy of Motor Control

Hierarchy of Motor Control

The hierarchy of motor control refers to the different levels of organization and processing involved in controlling movement in the body. These levels range from higher cortical areas involved in planning and decision-making to lower spinal cord reflexes that respond automatically to external stimuli.

Indirect Motor Pathways

Indirect Motor Pathways

The indirect motor or extrapyramidal pathways originate in the brainstem, the lower portion of the brain that connects it to the spinal cord. They consist of several distinct tracts, each with specialized functions. The four main tracts of the indirect motor pathways are the vestibulospinal tract, the reticulospinal tract, the tectospinal tract, and the rubrospinal tract.
The vestibulospinal tract originates in the vestibular nuclei of the brainstem. The vestibular system detects changes in...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Frame-by-Frame Video Analysis of Idiosyncratic Reach-to-Grasp Movements in Humans

Frame-by-Frame Video Analysis of Idiosyncratic Reach-to-Grasp Movements in Humans

Published on: January 15, 2018

Parallel explicit and implicit control of reaching.

Pietro Mazzoni¹, Nancy S Wexler

¹Motor Performance Laboratory, Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America. pm125@columbia.edu

|October 23, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The human brain can manage two control systems (explicit and implicit) for a single movement. This ability is impaired in individuals presymptomatic for Huntington

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Last Updated: Jun 19, 2026

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Motor Control
Human Movement

Background:

Human movement is controlled implicitly (automatic) or explicitly (attentive).
Explicit control is used for new movements, while implicit control allows multitasking.
The brain can flexibly allocate control, suggesting sensorimotor signals are segregated.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the human nervous system's capacity for dual control of sensorimotor signals.
To determine if explicit and implicit motor control can be segregated for a single action.
To examine the impact of presymptomatic Huntington's disease on this segregation ability.

Main Methods:

Tested dual (explicit and implicit) control of reaching movements in healthy subjects.
Assessed performance degradation under dual control compared to single control.
Evaluated dual-control performance in individuals in the presymptomatic stage of Huntington's disease.

Main Results:

Healthy controls successfully performed dual explicit and implicit motor control without performance loss.
Subjects in the presymptomatic stage of Huntington's disease showed impairment in dual-control tasks.
Performance was unaffected in presymptomatic Huntington's disease subjects under single explicit or implicit control.

Conclusions:

The human nervous system can accurately segregate sensorimotor signals for dual control of a single action.
The striatum may play a critical role in segregating sensorimotor signals for multiple control processes.
Impaired segregation in presymptomatic Huntington's disease suggests early neurological dysfunction.