Spinal Cord Tracts Review and Lesion stuff Flashcards
Spinothalamic tract carries what information?
Pain and temperature sensation
Where is the cell body of the spinothalamic tract
Comes in through the Posterior horn of spinal cord cell body in DRG
Path of spinothalamic tract after coming in through posterior horn?
Crosses over in anterior white commissure and ascends via the spinothalamic tract to the thalamus where the second order neuron is (VPL). Then goes to somatosensory cortex
Dorsal column/medial lemniscus senses what?
Pressure, touch, vibration, proprioception
Dorsal column track
Ascends in dorsal column, doesn’t cross over until it gets to the medulla. Then ascends via the medial lemniscus to the thalamus.
Lateral corticospinal pathway controls what
voluntary movement
Lateral corticospinal track
Pyramdal neurons in the cortex descend, cross over in medullary pyramids, and synapse on the anterior motor horn of the cord
Hypothalamospinal pathway
sympathetic control of the face
Hypothalamospinal pathway arises where
hypothalamus
Where does the hypothalamospinal pathway synapse after leaving the hypothalamus?
Lateral horn at T1 level…then arises from the lateral horn at T1 and synapses again on superior cervical ganglion, goes to eyelids, pupils, and skin of face.
Where do you do a lumbar puncture, just for kicks. Lets say you were looking for meningitis
L4-L5 (at the iliac crest)
Spinal cord ends where
L2
What is the HALLMARK sign of a brainstem lesion
You will see alternating syndromes. That is, you will see long tract symptoms on one side (like hemiparalysis due to corticospinal injury) and CN symptoms on the other
What is Weber’s syndrome
Midbrain infarction due to posterior cerebral artery branch occlusion
- cerebral peduncle lesion causes contralateral pastic paralysis
- Oculomotor nerve palsy- down and out gaze
Locked in syndrome
completely awake and aware but can’t move or function
- superior pons lesion
- Basiallary artery stroke or rapid correction of low sodium
