Movements of Acton are planned either consciously or unconsciously, or  intuitively,  and these types of planning can be complex actions,  or will look very much like all planned movement is initiated in a different area from the unconscious movements, and the more skilled we are,  at making particular movements,  the less likely a requirement of consciousness.

What is the difference between conscious and unconscious movements?” 

Movements; Many of our actions are conscious like thinking about parking, or about picking up an article off the floor. However, many actions we do,  take  no planning like “blinking.” Some actions may be triggered directly by the environment like the sound of a shot gun, the sound of traffic, the chirping of birds, or the rush of water over Niagara Falls. Movement that effects us from the exterior would be food that triggers saliva for digestion and we never think about it. It just is there from the autonomous systems like homeostasis is. Saliva triggered by food is an autonomous action triggered by an environmental stimuli,  and creates a response that is autonomous and initiates movement. The brain’s systems stimulated can lead to the increase of “grhelin” in the stomach,  causing the autonomous systems to stimulate hunger or suppress hunger. Whether a complex movement is conscious is dependent on the individual’s level of skill. As an action becomes increasingly familiar it can become automatic. However, they can be preformed consciously if the individual turns focus toward the action. Complicated action with ever advanced movements like someone practising fire science everyday for 38 years,  can have some parts simultaneously be performed unconsciously or,  might be very consciously aware.

Skill Familiarity;

Skills of driving on a familiar route will carry out all of the individual actions involved with turning  the car unconsciously, but with a learner the driver is driving an unfamiliar route, and will be conscious of every little turn.

Pesteliar tendons a direction of kick when a reflex is used just below the knee. Pesteliar spinal reflexes is a well known test of autonomous nervous system reflex action. It is used by doctors to test the spinal nerve function. Tapping the tendon just under the Pestella, (knee cap) stretch, the thigh muscles cause the lower leg to kick out autonomously via the systems that already remember.

Complex Planning; Some actions require lengthy conscious deliberation. If a person is highly skilled and doing something for example, a professional golfer, or a professional firefighter, a golfer putting a ball on a green, or a firefighter aiming many pounds of fire retardant at a fire to extinguish it. This takes many pounds of control with pressurized sprays, to execute this action, relegating unconscious areas of the brain,  if done many times, and in the memory. If not you have to be consciously aware and focused on the job at hand. If unconscious it frees the cognitive regions to concentrate where to strike in space; timing;  and velocity of winds; and how that would make a difference, as air dynamics do interfere. How hard do you hit a ball to make it to the green; what is the footage; and what are the winds in klmps., the footage of the necessary punch of the ball. So there will be some unconscious behaviour dealing with the skills and tasks necessary for focusing on a job and your specific awareness.

Brain Areas and Movement; Both conscious and unconscious areas involved in the Primary Cortex, that send the “Go” signals that contract muscles via the spinal chord and motor nerves. However while unconscious movements are planned by areas via the Parietal Lobe, conscious action involves higher frontal brain areas including the pre – motor supplementary,  motor cortex and areas 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, etc.etc. They also involve the prefrontal areas such as the dorsalateral prefrontal cortex, where action areas are consciously  assessed. It may “feel” as though conscious actions result from a decision. In fact unconscious areas of the brain plan and start to execute movements before we decide what to do with them. The decision may therefore merely be the conscious recognition of what the unconscious mind and planning do.

Readiness Potential; Unconscious activity up to the SMA and PMA starts 2 seconds before an action. The decision to act occurs only a fraction before the second before the action.

Cortical Movements; Unconscious and Conscious actions involve slightly different areas. The unconscious uses Parietal regions of the brain. while the latter uses the supplementary motor area Prefrontal Cortex and the

(1) The Posterior Parietal Cortex

(2) The Supplementary Motor area

(3) Part of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

(4) Premotor Areas

(5) The Primary Motor Areas

(6) The Somatasensory Cortex.

 

The Basal Ganglia; The Basal Ganglia is involved with action plans made in the parietal and Frontal Brain Areas that are fed down to the Basal Ganglia and then routed by the Thalamus, back to the SMA and PMA before execution. The Basal Ganglia are thought to be a filter blocking plans that are inappropriate for example; inhibiting autonomic movements triggered by responses such as grabbing tools. Response Control; An Action plan as routed around the Basal Ganglia, this information is made more or less potent – and less likely to be executed by the action of various neurotransmitters.

These are the modulating SMA Basal Ganglia grouping; Putamen; Receiving signals from the frontal cortex; Globol Pallidus, (relays information to the Thalamus); Thalamus, ( passes signals back to the SMA); Substantia Nigra, (Modulator actions making them stronger or weaker; Subthalamic Nucleus, (responsible for modulating action).

Modulating Circuitry; The cerebellum which is part 1 of the planning a movement. So for the body to make any complex movement the sequences of “each” of the body’s  elements, must be coordinated very precisely.This is controlled by the Cerebellum, by a circuit that connects it to the motor cortex, subsequently sending it to the motor neurons. The cerebellum insures that one set of muscles initiates  a movement the opposing set acts as a brake, so that the body in question arrives accurately at the target. So these initiations of inhibitory or initiation go to and from the cerebellum. (1) The Cerebellar Cortex (the motor programs are stood here). (2) Dentate Nucleus, (sends signals back to the Motor Cortex.) (3) Pontine Nucleus, (Receives signals about impending movement and sends them to the cerebellum); (4) The Red Nucleus, (receives feedback from the cerebellum). (5) Primary Motor Cortex ( precise timing in the cerebellum circuits in the system as well as a system that measures time. It feeds a calculation to the primary motor cortex which sends the signals to the muscles). Once a movement has been planned like taking a golf swing at a ball, by the club, the bran areas responsible to the muscles to execute the actions, some of these signals are motor cortex and then onward, through to the spinal chord, and others travel by more direct routes. Movement occurs when the signals reach the muscle fibres causing them to contract. 

Spinal Tracts; Action plans generate in the supplementary promoter and Parietal Cortices, are forwarded to the Motor Cortex, for execution. The motor cortex is made up of about 1 million neurons, which sends long axons down the spinal chord that come directly from the somatasensory cortex, to form the Lateral Corticospinal tract, just before entering entering the spinal chord, the nerves from each hemisphere of the brain separate and cross over, so the fibres, from the left hemisphere of the cortex, go down the right side of the spinal chord and vice versa. The “Rubrospinal ” tract originates from the “Red Nuclear” in the midbrain and helps to produce fine movements. The Vestibulospinal and the Reticulospinal tracts start lower down the spine in the brain stem and help control “Balance and Orientation.” So we have the (1) Vestibular spinal tract (2) the Rubrospinal tract (3) The Lateral Corticospinal tract (4) the Reticulospinal spinal tract. 

For; 

Limb control; The Lateral Cortico Spinal tract is the only spinal tract to originate in the cerebral cortex and is mostly responsible for controlling limb movement. Balancing – the Reticulospinal tracts help control balance and neutralize the effects of gravity. 

(1) The Spinal Chord; most nerve fibres from the brain synapse onto neurons in the spinal chord. 

(2) Pyramidal Decussation; Lateral Corticospinal tract branches cross over (3) The Vestibular Nucleus  (4) The Reticular formation (5) The Pons (6) The Red Nucleus (8) To the Thalamus.  Spine to the Muscle; The axons of the Motor Neurons which receives signals from the spinal tracts, emerge from between the vertebrae and travel to the muscles. The nerve endings infiltrate the muscle fibres at the neuron – muscular junctions and when they fire and release the neurotransmitters acetycholine. This diffuses across the “synaptic self” connecting cell membrane which by a series of reactions makes the specific muscle contract. Muscles are required to carry out the movements that have corresponding higher numbers of neurons that those required to perform gross movement. The Neuromuscular  when stimulated by a motor nerve, electrical changes in the muscle cause the release of calcium ions inside the muscle. This causes the filaments of the muscle to slide against each other and contract. Precise Sequences; After receiving an order to move from the Primary Motor Cortex, a rapid precisely timed sequence of motor Neuron firings cause specific muscles and areas of the brain to connect via electromagneticvibrational potential into kinetic energy action for the individual homo sapien hybrid. 

You will see the importance of each part of the brain must be in good health for all parts to be able to function. It is important that All parts are capable of functioning in order for one part of the brain to function. Fact!