Spinal Cord Tracts Flashcards
Define a reflex
Inherent subconscious - relatively consistent response to a particular stimulus
What is a myotonic reflex
Muscle stretch
Name a reflex that doesn’t have interneurons present
Patellar reflex
What is a withdrawal reflex
Check limb flexes - chick sciatic nerve
(Pinch digit and leg will retract)
Where are upper motor neurone found
Only in the central nervous system
Where are lower motor neutrons found
Cell bodies in the CNS
Axons project to Peripheral NS
What are the functional differences between upper and lower motor neutrons
Upper control the response
Lower induce the response
What is an ascending pathway
Information going to the brain
What is a descending pathway
Information travels from brain to spinal cord
Describe the Spinothalamic Pathway
- Primary afferent neutrons in the ascending pathway
- signal transmitted from 1 afferent axons in spinal ganglion to spinal cord Dorsal Horn
- projection neutrons are found in the Marginal Nucleus and nucleus proprius of dorsal horn
- second order neurons cross the midline and join axons to form the spinothalamic tract (for pain sensation)
- tract reached thalamus
What are 1st order neurons
Spinal ganglion
What are 2nd order neurons in the spinocervicothalamic tract
Marginal nucleus/ nucleus proprius
How are descending pathways divided
Into dorsolateral and ventromedial
What are spinal cord funiculus
Bundles of nerve fibres
Which motor system innervates the distal limb muscles
Dorsolateral
