ventral ►
spinocerebellar
tract
dorsal spinocerebellar ▲
and cuneocerebellar tracts
- ventral spinocerebellar tract (= VSC)
and dorsal spinocerebellar tract (= DSC)
- DSC from upper body; VSC from lower body
- unconscious proprioception
- body and extremity position
- from Golgi tendon organ receptors
- body and extremity movement and muscle tone
- from muscle spindle receptors
- VSC axons cross midline in anterior gray matter
on entry into lumbosacral spinal cord and then
synapse in Stilling’s nucleus (in the contralateral
ventral horn), and second neuron axons ascend
in adjacent white matter to enter cerebellum via
superior cerebellar peduncle, crossing midline in
cerebellum again before reaching cerebellar cortex
(ipsilateral to side of VSC entry into spinal cord)
- DSC axons synapse on entry into thoracolumbar
spinal cord, in Clarke’s nucleus (in the lateral gray
matter of L-2 through C-8), and second neuron
axons ascend in ipsilateral lateral white matter to
enter cerebellum via inferior cerebellar peduncle
and proceed to ipsilateral cerebellar cortex
- above C-8, cuneocerebellar axons enter
adjacent fasciculus cuneatus, then synapse in
accessory cuneate nucleus in myelencephalon,
and second neuron axons (as the ‘external
arcuate fibers’) join DSC entering the inferior
cerebellar peduncle and proceed to ipsilateral
cerebellar cortex
- spinoreticular and spinotectal tracts are other
ascending tracts which report status of spinal
cord activities to the brainstem nuclei
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