Explain how damage to different components of the peripheral nervous system would affect an athlete's performance in basketball. (5 marks)
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Sample Answer
- Damage to sensory neurons would impair feedback about body position.
- This prevents accurate sensing of hand position and ball contact.
- Players couldn’t judge shooting force or dribbling pressure without looking, which shows how sensory damage disrupts movement precision.
- Motor neuron damage would cause muscle weakness or paralysis because signals from brain to muscles become blocked or reduced.
- Affected players lose jumping ability or shooting arm strength, demonstrating how motor damage prevents movement execution.
- Proprioceptor damage would eliminate spatial awareness.
- Athletes consequently lose unconscious knowledge of limb positions.
- Players must visually track their arms when shooting or passing, illustrating how proprioceptive loss affects coordination.
- Autonomic nervous system damage would impair exercise responses.
- Heart rate and breathing fail to increase with exercise demands, resulting in rapid fatigue.
- Players cannot sustain game intensity, thus showing how autonomic damage limits physical performance capacity.
Show Worked Solution
Sample Answer
- Damage to sensory neurons would impair feedback about body position.
- This prevents accurate sensing of hand position and ball contact.
- Players couldn’t judge shooting force or dribbling pressure without looking, which shows how sensory damage disrupts movement precision.
- Motor neuron damage would cause muscle weakness or paralysis because signals from brain to muscles become blocked or reduced.
- Affected players lose jumping ability or shooting arm strength, demonstrating how motor damage prevents movement execution.
- Proprioceptor damage would eliminate spatial awareness.
- Athletes consequently lose unconscious knowledge of limb positions.
- Players must visually track their arms when shooting or passing, illustrating how proprioceptive loss affects coordination.
- Autonomic nervous system damage would impair exercise responses.
- Heart rate and breathing fail to increase with exercise demands, resulting in rapid fatigue.
- Players cannot sustain game intensity, thus showing how autonomic damage limits physical performance capacity.