Tracing Anatomical Connections

Question 1

What are axonal tracers and how can they be administered?

Answer 1

• Substances that are carried in both directions, along an axon either towards or away from a cell body.
• Can be injected in to the axon terminal or cell body. Or can be GE proteins that are made within the cell itself.

Question 2

What is an anterograde tracer?

Answer 2

Tracers that are carried away from the cell body to the axon terminal.

Question 3

What are retrograde tracers?

Answer 3

Tracers carried toward a cell body from a axon terminal.

Question 4

What is Diffusion Tensor imaging (DTI) and how does it work?

Answer 4

• A brain imaging technique that shows you the white matter tracts.
• Uses the polarity of water molecules by using magnetic resonance signal to draw a map of the white matter tracts in the brain.

Question 5

What happens when there is a lesion on a axon?

Answer 5

• The axon degenerates distally.

- The axon then looses its myelination, so using a myelin stain can track the neuro degeneration.

Question 6

Is the spinocerebellar tract ascending or descending?

And what is its role?

Answer 6

• Descending

- Proprioception

Question 7

Is the spinothalamic tract ascending or descending?

And what is its role?

Answer 7

• Descending

- Pain, temperature

Question 8

Are the Dorsal Colum tracts ascending or descending?

And what is its role?

Answer 8

• Descending

- Touch, pressure

Question 9

Is the Corticospinal tract ascending or descending?

And what is its role?

Answer 9

• Ascending

- Movement

Question 10

SEE WEEK 5 LC to practice looking at myelination loss and using that to identify and work out symptoms.

Answer 10

:) it’s a good thing to practice