Spinal Cord and Periphery Flashcards
Describe dorsal and ventral horn?
Sensory axons for dorsal root and Motor neurons for ventral root
What are the columns of white matter arranged into?
Posterior, lateral and anterior
Each column has various tracts of axons
What is the difference between ascending and descending tracts?
Ascending - sensory
Descending - motor
What are some ascending tracts?
Lateral spinothalamic, medial spinothalamic, dorsal column, spinocerebellar, cuneocerebellar, spinoreticular, spino-olivary
What are some descending tracts?
Corticospinal, reticulospinal, rubrospinal, vestibulospinal, tectospinal
Where is the dorsal column?
Dorsal or posterior part of the spinal cord behind the grey matter
What does the corticospinal/ pyramidal tract carry?
Motor impulses from motor cortex to skeletal muscles
What does the posterior/ dorsal column carry?
Carries touch, tactile localisation, vibration sense and proprioception (sensory impulse from muscles)
What does the lateral spinothalamic tract carry?
Pain and temperature
What is the blood supply for the internal capsule?
Middle cerebral artery - direct continuation of ICA (frequently implicated by occlusion leading to strokes)
Lead to dense stroke as projection fibres of corticospinal tract are here
What is the function of the corticospinal tract?
Control of voluntary skilled movements - motor pathway
Where does the corticospinal tract start and where does the projection fibres lead into?
Motor cortex - area 4
Leads into the posterior limb of the internal capsule
What are corticobulbar fibres?
Fibres which are coming from precentral gyrus and ten leave tract to go to
contralateral cranial nerve nuclei
These fibres do not go into spinal cord
Where do corticospinal fibres mostly cross?
Decussation of pyramids as 10 crania nerves leave the brainstem
Where do the rest of fibres from corticospinal tract (not corticobulbar) go?
Down medulla - forming projection - pyramids
At lower part of pyramid they cross - decussation
Tract to lie now in lateral column of spinal cord forming the lateral corticospinal tract
How does lateral corticospinal tract synapse with skeletal muscles?
Axon enters into grey matter where it synapses - impulse assed through ventral root to spinal nerve then spinal muscles