Spinal Cord and Periphery Flashcards
What are the 3 columns of white matter?
Posterior
Lateral
Anterior
What are ascending pathways?
Sensory
What are descending pathways?
Motor
What is the role of the corticospinal/pyramidal tract?
Carries motor impulses from motor cortex to skeletal muscles
What is the role of the posterior/dorsal column?
Carries touch, tactile localisation, vibration sense, proprioception
What is the role of the lateral spinothalamic tract?
Pain and temperature
Where does the pathway of the pyramidal tract start?
From motor cortex (area 4)
What happens to corticobulbar fibres?
Go to contralateral cranial nerve nucleii
Where do corticospinal fibres cross?
Decussation of pyramids
What is the site of lower motor neurons?
Ventral horn
What does the dorsal column carry?
Sensations of: Fine touch Tactile localisation Vibration sense Proprioception
How does the 1st order neuron end? (dorsal column)
Synapses with the cell body of the 2nd neuron
Where is the cell body of the 2nd neuron situated? (dorsal column)
Lower part of the medulla
Where does the 2nd order neuron cross over? (dorsal column)
Medulla
What is the tract known as after the 2nd order neuron decussates? (dorsal column)
Medial lemniscus
What does the medial lemniscus pass through?
Medulla, pons, midbrain to reach the thalamus