Internal Anatomy Of The Spinal Cord Flashcards
Functions of Spinal cord
- relay centre for incoming sensory info through dorsal roots & horn
- conduit for ascending (afferent) & descending (efferent) pathways
- origin of lower motor neurons “final common pathway of Sherrington” and thus “commands” to skeletal muscles of the body through ventral horns & roots
Bell-Magendie Law
- sensory info goes into spinal cord via dorsal roots of spinal nerves
- motor “commands” leave spinal cord via ventral roots of spinal nerves
Upper motor neurons origin
Start in higher centres (cortex)
UMNs send commands to ___
LMNs
Lesion to UMN leads to ____ or ____
Spastic paresis (hyperreflexia & hypertonia) or paralysis
LMN origin
Start in spinal cord (ventral horn cells) & brainstem (cranial nerve nuclei)
LMNs command
Directly command muscles to contract via spinal & cranial nerves
LMN lesion leads to ____
Flaccid paresis/paralysis (hyporeflexia & hypotonia)
Pericornual cells
Relay centre for pain & temperature
Substantia gelatinosa
Involved in ‘editing’ pain
- inhibits pain nuclei
Nucleus proprius
Contains cell bodies of neurons in several tracts
(Pain, temperature, tickle, itch)
Nucleus dorsalis (Clarke’s column)
C8-L2,3 only
Involved in proprioception of lower body
Intermediolateral cell column
T1-L2: preganglionic sympathetic neuron cell bodies
S2-4: preganglionic parasympathetic cell bodies
Motor nuclei (ventral horn cells)
Contain cell bodies of LMNs, both alpha & gamma, which innervate skeletal muscle
Cell columns in gray matter
- Pericornual cells
- Substantia gelatinosa
- Nucleus proprius
- Nucleus dorsalis
- Intermediolateral cell column
- Motor nuclei
Rexed Laminae I
Pericornual cells
Rexed Laminae II
Substantia gelatinosa
Rexed Laminae III-VI, part of VI
Nucleus proprius
Rexed Laminae VII
Intermediate zone, includes nucleus dorsalis & Intermediolateral column
Rexed Laminae VIII
Part of ventral horn, projections to lamina IX
Rexed Laminae IX
Motor nuclei
Rexed Laminae X
Ventral & dorsal gray commisures
Ascending pathways carry information from ____ to ____
Lower centres (or peripheral body) to higher centres
The first neuron in an ascending pathway is the ____
Primary afferent neuron
Functions of dorsal columns/medial lemniscus pathway
- vibration sense
- conscious proprioception
- discriminatory touch (fine touch)
- stereognosis (3D knowledge)
Dorsal columns (dorsal funiculus) carry ____
Primary afferent neurons
Fasciculus gracilis:
From ____
Ends in ____
Exits at ____
From ipsilateral lower body
Ends in nucleus gracilis in medulla
Exits at all spinal cord levels