What parts of the brain control voluntary and involuntary muscle movements?
Voluntary muscles are controlled by the motor cortex, while involuntary muscles are controlled by other regions of the brain such as the hypothalamus.
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Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: The nervous system orders the body's muscles to contract. We can deliberately order the skeletal muscles to contract, which enables us to perform movements. These voluntary movements are commanded by the motor cortex, the zone of the cerebrum located behind the frontal lobe. The motor cortex sends a neural message that moves through the brain stem along the spinal cord and into the neural network to the muscle being commanded. Stimulated by the neural message, the muscle contracts.
Other muscles, like those of the stomach wall, are not voluntarily controlled. They are controlled directly by regions deep within the brain, such as the hypothalamus. Thus, during digestion, the stomach contracts without our being aware of it. These involuntary contractions ensure that the alimentary bolus is digested, even while we sleep.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: The nervous system orders the body's muscles to contract. We can deliberately order the skeletal muscles to contract, which enables us to perform movements. These voluntary movements are commanded by the motor cortex, the zone of the cerebrum located behind the frontal lobe. The motor cortex sends a neural message that moves through the brain stem along the spinal cord and into the neural network to the muscle being commanded. Stimulated by the neural message, the muscle contracts.
Other muscles, like those of the stomach wall, are not voluntarily controlled. They are controlled directly by regions deep within the brain, such as the hypothalamus. Thus, during digestion, the stomach contracts without our being aware of it. These involuntary contractions ensure that the alimentary bolus is digested, even while we sleep.
[Music out]