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Robotic Spine Universe

Pathways

Spinocerebellar tracts

Unconscious position sense for coordination

Position sense from muscles and joints also travels to the cerebellum, which uses it to coordinate movement. It enters the cerebellum through the inferior cerebellar peduncle.

Drawn for the left side of the body. Schematic route through the model’s landmarks; the pulse speed is illustrative.

Route

served sideother sideCortexDeep brainMidbrainPonsMedullaSpinal cordBody12345

Step by step

  1. Muscle and joint receptors · served side
  2. Spinal cord · served side · synapse
  3. Spinocerebellar tract · served side
  4. Inferior cerebellar peduncle · served side
  5. Cerebellum · served side

Schematic Filled circles: synapses. X: the pathway crosses the midline. Numbers match the list.

Where it runs in the cord (L3)

left fasciculus gracilisright fasciculus gracilisleft fasciculus cuneatusright fasciculus cuneatusleft lateral corticospinal tractright lateral corticospinal tractleft spinal lemniscusright spinal lemniscusleft spino-olivary tractright spino-olivary tractleft ventrolateral reticulospinal tractright ventrolateral reticulospinal tractleft lateral vestibulospinal tractright lateral vestibulospinal tractleft ventral corticospinal tractright ventral corticospinal tractleft tectospinal tractright tectospinal tractleft medial reticulospinal tractright medial reticulospinal tractleft medial longitudinal fasciculusright medial longitudinal fasciculusleft ventral hornright ventral hornleft intermediate zoneright intermediate zoneleft dorsal hornright dorsal hornAnteriorPosteriorLR
  • Ascending (sensory)
  • Corticospinal (motor)
  • Other descending
  • Grey matter
Regions in this section (text list)
  • left fasciculus gracilis (spared)
  • right fasciculus gracilis (spared)
  • left fasciculus cuneatus (spared)
  • right fasciculus cuneatus (spared)
  • left lateral corticospinal tract (spared)
  • right lateral corticospinal tract (spared)
  • left spinal lemniscus (spared)
  • right spinal lemniscus (spared)
  • left spino-olivary tract (spared)
  • right spino-olivary tract (spared)
  • left ventrolateral reticulospinal tract (spared)
  • right ventrolateral reticulospinal tract (spared)
  • left lateral vestibulospinal tract (spared)
  • right lateral vestibulospinal tract (spared)
  • left ventral corticospinal tract (spared)
  • right ventral corticospinal tract (spared)
  • left tectospinal tract (spared)
  • right tectospinal tract (spared)
  • left medial reticulospinal tract (spared)
  • right medial reticulospinal tract (spared)
  • left medial longitudinal fasciculus (spared)
  • right medial longitudinal fasciculus (spared)
  • left ventral horn (spared)
  • right ventral horn (spared)
  • left intermediate zone (spared)
  • right intermediate zone (spared)
  • left dorsal horn (spared)
  • right dorsal horn (spared)

Highlighted: the region of the PAM50 white-matter atlas for this pathway, on both sides of the cord. A lesion here takes away what it carries below the level, on the side its fibres serve at that point.

Cut it on the left in the lesion explorer

There are dorsal and ventral spinocerebellar tracts with different routes; this page treats them together, as the source does. The cross-section shows the ventral tract, the one in the atlas.

What the sources say

“This test can indicate deficits in dorsal column pathway proprioception, as well as problems with proprioceptive projections to the cerebellum through the spinocerebellar tract.” Betts et al. 2022, §16.4
“The ICP conveys sensory input to the cerebellum, partially from the spinocerebellar tract, but also through fibers of the inferior olive.” Betts et al. 2022, §16.5

Sources: Betts et al. 2022, §16.4; Betts et al. 2022, §16.5