Describe both (i) Fasciculus Gracillis and (ii) Fasciculus Cuneatus.
(i) carries information from the lower body extremities
- enters up to T6
(ii) carries information from the upper body extremities
- enters above T6
What are three principal ascending tract systems in the spinal cord?
For the dorsal medial - lemniscal pathway the pathway for? (HINT: there’s 4)
Describe the process of the dorsal column medial - lemniscal pathway. Including what fibres it is composed of.
Composed of large A beta fibres
The 1st order neurons ascend ipsilaterally in dorsal columns
At the gracille & cuneatus nuclei (brainstem) they synapse with second order neurons
They then decussate to form the medial lemniscus & project to the ventral posterolateral lobe of the thalamus
Explain the various pathologies of the dorsal column medial - lemniscal pathway.
What are 2 ways you can test the dorsal columns function?
What is the spinothalamic pathway the pathway for?
Nociceptive stimuli
- also for mechanical, chemical & thermal detection of coarse or non-discriminating touch as well as pain & temp
Describe the process of the spinothalamic pathway. Including what fibres it is composed of.
Composed of small, slow fibres (A delta = non-discriminative touch, heat, cold, sharp pain or C = dull aching pain, itch plus thermal & mechanical)
The 1st order neurons synapse with the 2nd in the dorsal horn
- these then decussate & ascend in either the dorsal OR ventral pathway
In the thalamus they synapse with 3rd order neurons which project into the sensory cortex
What are the (i) Spinothalamic lateral and (ii) Spinothalamic ventral composed of? Explain what happens when there is lesions in the lateral pathway.
(i) mix of A delta (temp) and C (pain)
(ii) only C fibres (coarse, non-discriminating touch via mechanosensitive fibres)
Lesions in lateral pathway: result in a decreased perception of pain & temp on the CONTRALATERAL side of the body (always 1 or 2 dermatomes below the lesion)
- can cause paraesthesia, experienced as shooting or electrical pain.
- patients notice it when they experience painless cuts or burns
What is the role of pain?
Protects the body
- sense of pain only occurs once in the brain, before this it is simply a code
What is the function of nociceptors? List the various types of nociception. (HINT: there’s 4)
They detect noxious stimuli in the world around us and relay signals to the brain
Polymodal - unmyelinated C fibres
- mechanical, chemical, thermal
Mechanical - lightly myelinated A delta fibres
- sensitive to increasing pressure
Chemical - lightly myelinated A delta fibres
- sensitive to histamine, itch feeling
Thermal - lightly myelinated A delta fibres
- sensitive to high/low temperatures
What are the 2 types of pain? Describe them both.
What is substance P?
Modulates peripheral neuron response to noxious stimuli
Describe the mechanism of referred pain.
The signals of normal & noxious stimuli enter the spinal cord at the same point
=> cross talk in dorsal horn between modalities is common
- signals from VISCERA get picked up by ascending nerve fibres that are mapped cortically to DERMIS
What is the spinocerebellar pathway composed of? Where does it carry information from? Describe, and name, the route of its two different pathways.
Composed of Dorsal (posterior) and Ventral (anterior) routes
- carry info from muscle spindles, GTO, touch receptors.
Both pathways only contain 2 neurons along their path
- the cell bodies of 2nd order are located in dorsal horn of spinal cord & end in vermis of cerebellum
Dorsal tract: ascend ipsilaterally and enter the cerebellum via inferior peduncle
Ventral tract: ascend contralaterally, enter cerebellum via superior peduncle
Explain what condition(s) results from dysfunction of the spinocerebellar pathway. What does this condition result in?
Friedreich’s Ataxia
- spinocerebellar tract becomes increasingly ineffective, caused by multiple repeats of the gene for protein Frataxin (which is responsible for iron metabolism in mitochondria)
- results in : uncoordinated arm & leg movements
wide based ‘reeling’ gait
Intention tremor
Define each of the following; (i) fibre (ii) tract (iii) pathway (iv) system.
(i) 1 or more adjacent axons travelling in parallel
(ii) large number of axons travelling in parallel within the CNS
(iii) route taken along tracts by sensory OR motor signal (they can cross tracks or just travel along a portion of them)
(iv) complex group of tracts found in a particular portion of the spinal cord OR group tracts serving similar functions
What are the levels of motor control? Describe them. (HINT: there’s 2)
UMNs - cortex & brainstem nuclei
- restricted to CNS (don’t contract muscle)
- have an executive function over LMNs (& circuit controlling LMNs)
LMNs - brainstem & spinal cord
- not CNS restricted (stimulate muscle contraction)
- is the motor function to muscles
What are the 2 major classes of descending pathways? Explain what they are controlled by, what they control.
What pathway controls posture? How is posture adjusted? What are the 3 sensory outputs used in controlling posture?
Ventromedial pathways
Posture is adjusted by involuntary movement driven both predictively (postural set) and reactively (compensation)
The brain stem is where the postural set is governed
1. Muscle proprioceptors (changes in muscle length & tension)
2. Sense balance derived from head movements relative to the Earth’s gravitational field
3. Visual inputs (movements in visual field representing movement of the body)
What are the two pathways that are ventromedial? Describe their subsets.
Vestibulospinal & Reticulospinal
1. Lateral vestibulospinal:
- principle effect is to facilitate extensor MNs & inhibit flexor MNs - innervating ipsilateral medial & axial muscles
- activates alpha MNs & Gamma MNs, causing enhanced muscle spindle mediated stretch reflexes
- their overall effect is that they increase the tone of antigravity muscles
2. Medial vestibulospinal:
- controls head & eye movements
- unplanned head movements activate the vestibular apparatus (which projects to the lateral vestibular nucleus)
- the vestibular nucleus links this info with visual & tectal sensory info & transmits signals to cranial nerves (controlling head, neck & eye movements)
3. Reticulospinal: coordinates movement & posture
by receiving information from multiply sources:
- vestibular nuclei
- cortical areas for voluntary movement
- proprioception, vision etc
Where is the primary motor cortex found?
Anterior to the central sulcus
Describe the first branching off from the corticospinal tract.
The first branch is the corticobulbar tract
Which goes to:
1. cranial nuclei, UMNs & circuits
2. Influence over unconscious motor output (planned movement)
Describe the second branching off from the corticospinal tract.
The second branching is otherwise known as Pyramidal Decussation
90-95% of the corticospinal tract decussates into the Lateral Contralateral Corticospinal Tract - it travels the length of the cord, synapses at each segment & innervates unilaterally
The remaining 5-10% continues as the Anterior Ipsilateral Corticospinal Tract - it ends at L2, decussates at each segment & innervates bilaterally