Lecture 3 Flashcards
Spinal cord
White matter organized into tracts (bundles of nerve fibers with similar function)
Each tract has a defined beginning and end point
Each tract transmits a specific type of information
Ascending (cord to brain) tracts vs descending tracts (brain to effector neurons)
white and grey matter
butterfly shape grey matter
Discrimination of afferent signals in different tracts
E.g.Vibration, Temperature, Pain, Pressure
Tract named according to
origin and termination
Eg: ventral spinocerebellar tract: ascending, from stretch receptors to spinal chord to cerebellum)
Eg: ventral corticospinal tract, descending, from motorcortex to spinal chord motorneurons, to muscles
Damage to particular areas can interfere with some function, leaving others intact
Defined ascending and descending tracts
Ascending tracts
Descending tracts
In the spinal chord, grey matter is
functionally organized
Dorsal horn
(interneurons)
ventral horn
(efferent motorneurons)
lateral horn
(cell bodies for autonomic control of cardiac and smooth muscle and glands