Brain: Spinocerebellar tract
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Spinocerebellar tract is #4, in blue at right.
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Gray's
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NeuroNames
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The spinocerebellar tract is a set of axonal fibers originating in the spinal cord and terminating in the ipsilateral cerebellum. This tract conveys information to the cerebellum about limb and joint position (proprioception).
Additional recommended knowledge
Origins of proprioceptive information
Proprioceptive information is obtained by Golgi tendon organs and muscle spindles.
- Golgi tendon organs consist of a fibrous capsule enclosing tendon fasciculi and bare nerve endings that respond to tension in the tendon by causing action potentials in 1β afferent neurones (relatively large, myelinated, quickly conducting).
- Muscle spindles fibres are complicated systems of tension monitoring within muscles which result in information being carried via 1α neurones (larger and faster than 1β) (from both nuclear bag fibres and nuclear chain fibres) and II neurones (solely from nuclear chain fibres).
All of these neurones are "first order" or "primary", are sensory (and thus have their cell bodies in the dorsal root ganglion) and pass through Rexed laminae layers I-VI of the dorsal horn, to form synapses with "second order" or "secondary" neurones in the layer just beneath the dorsal horn (layer VII)
Subdivisions of the tract
The tract is divided into:
Division | Information | Limbs
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dorsal (posterior) spinocerebellar tract | Information from muscle spindles | hind limbs
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ventral (anterior) spinocerebellar tract | Information from golgi tendon organs | hind limbs
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spinocuneocerebellar tract | Information from muscle spindles | forelimbs
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rostral spinocerebellar tract | Information from golgi tendon organs | forelimbs
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Pathway for dorsal and spinocuneocerebellar tracts
In the dorsal tract, the sensory neurones synapse in an area known as Clarke's nucleus or "Clarke's column".
This is a column of relay neurone cell bodies within the medial gray matter within the spinal cord in layer VII (just beneath the dorsal horn), specifically between C8-L3. These neurones then send axons up the spinal cord and form synapses in the accessory (lateral) cuneate nucleus, lateral to the cuneate nucleus in the medulla.
Below L3, relevant neurones pass into the fasciculus gracilis (usually associated with the dorsal column-medial lemniscal system) until L3 where they synapse with Clarke's nucleus (leading to considerable caudal enlargement).
From above C8, neurones enter the fasciculus cuneatus directly and again synapse with neurones in the accessory cuneate nucleus. This pathway is known as the spinocuneocerebellar tract.
The neurones in the accessory cuneate nucleus have axons leading to the ipsilateral cerebellum via the caudal cerebellar peduncle.
Pathway for ventral and rostral tracts
Some neurones instead form synapses with neurones in layer VII of L4-S3. Most of these fibres cross over to the contralateral lateral funiculus via the anterior white commissure and proceed up the spinal cord to synapse with neurones in the superior cerebellar peduncle. The fibres then often cross over again within the cerebellum to end on the ipsilateral side.
The Rostral Tract is similar but is uncrossed and enters the cerebellum through both the superior and inferior cerebellar peduncles.
Anatomy of torso (primarily): the spinal cord |
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Spinal nerve | Dorsal (Root, Ganglion, Ramus) • Ventral (Root, Ramus) • Sympathetic trunk • rami communicantes (Gray, White) |
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Gray matter/Rexed laminae | Posterior horn (Column of Clarke, Substantia gelatinosa of Rolando, Nucleus proprius) • Lateral horn • Anterior horn • Central canal/Substantia gelatinosa centralis |
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White matter: somatic/ascending (blue) |
Posterior/PCML: Gracilis • Cuneatus
Lateral: Spinocerebellar (Dorsal, Ventral) • Spinothalamic (Lateral, Anterior) • Spinotectal • Posterolateral (Lissauer)
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White matter: motor/descending (red) |
Lateral: Corticospinal (Lateral) • Ep (Rubrospinal, Olivospinal)
Anterior: Corticospinal (Anterior) • Ep (Vestibulospinal, Tectospinal, Reticulospinal)
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Layers | Epidural space • Dura mater • Subdural space • Arachnoid mater • Subarachnoid space • Pia mater |
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Other structures | Denticulate ligaments • Conus medullaris • Cauda equina • Filum terminale • Cervical enlargement • Lumbar enlargement • Anterior median fissure |
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Brain: rhombencephalon (hindbrain) |
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Myelencephalon/medulla |
anterior/ventral: Arcuate nucleus of medulla • Pyramid (Decussation) • Olivary body • Inferior olivary nucleus • Anterior median fissure • Ventral respiratory group
posterior/dorsal: VII,IX,X: Solitary/tract • XII, X: Dorsal • IX,X,XI: Ambiguus • IX: Inferior salivatory nucleus • Gracile nucleus/Cuneate nucleus/Accessory cuneate nucleus • Area postrema • Posterior median sulcus • Dorsal respiratory group
raphe/reticular: Sensory decussation • Reticular formation (Gigantocellular nucleus, Parvocellular reticular nucleus, Ventral reticular nucleus, Lateral reticular nucleus, Paramedian reticular nucleus) • Raphe nuclei (Obscurus, Magnus, Pallidus)
tracts: Corticospinal tract (Lateral, Anterior) • Inferior cerebellar peduncle • Olivocerebellar tract • Spinocerebellar (Dorsal, Ventral) • Spinothalamic tract • PCML (Posterior external arcuate fibers, Internal arcuate fibers, Medial lemniscus) • Extrapyramidal (Rubrospinal tract, Vestibulospinal tract, Tectospinal tract)
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Metencephalon/pons |
anterior/ventral: Superior olivary nucleus • Basis pontis (Pontine nuclei, Middle cerebellar peduncles)
posterior/dorsal: Pontine tegmentum (Trapezoid body, Superior medullary velum, Locus ceruleus, MLF, Vestibulocerebellar tract, V Principal Spinal & Motor, VI, VII, VII: Superior salivary nucleus) • VIII-c (Dorsal, Anterior)/VIII-v (Lateral, Superior, Medial, Inferior)
raphe/reticular: Reticular formation (Caudal pontine reticular nucleus, Oral pontine reticular nucleus, Tegmental pontine reticular nucleus, Paramedian pontine reticular formation) • Median raphe nucleus
Apneustic center • Pneumotaxic center
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Metencephalon/cerebellum | Vermis • Flocculus • Arbor vitae • Cerebellar tonsil • Inferior medullary velum
Molecular layer (Stellate cell, Basket cell, Parallel fiber) • Purkinje cell layer (Purkinje cell) • Granule cell layer (Golgi cell) • Mossy fibers • Climbing fiber
Deep cerebellar nuclei (Dentate, Emboliform, Globose, Fastigial) |
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Fourth ventricle | apertures (Median, Lateral) • Rhomboid fossa (Vagal trigone, Hypoglossal trigone, Obex, Sulcus limitans, Facial colliculus, Medial eminence) • Lateral recess |
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