Vestibulospinal tract

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Vestibulospinal tract
Vestibulospinal tract is 2c, in red at bottom center.
Latin	tractus vestibulospinalis
Gray's	subject #185 760
System
MeSH	[1]
Diagram of the principal fasciculi of the spinal cord. (Vestibulospinal fasciculus labeled at bottom right.)

The vestibulospinal tract is one of the descending spinal tracts of the ventromedial pathway. It originates from the vestibular nuclei of the medulla, which conducts information from the vestibular labyrinth in the inner ear.

Motion of fluid in the vestibular labyrinth activates hair cells that signal the vestibular nuclei via cranial nerve VIII.

[edit] Parts

One part of the vestibulospinal tract project bilaterally down the spinal cord and triggers the cervical spinal circuits, controlling a right position of the head and neck.

The second part of the vestibulospinal tract projects ipsilateral down to the lumbar region. There it helps to maintain an upright and balanced posture by stimulating extensor motor neurons in the legs.

[edit] External links

• Diagram at etsu.edu
• Overview at wustl.edu
• Brainstem at UWisc 13VNAN

Spinal cord

epidural space, dura mater, subdural space, arachnoid mater, subarachnoid space, pia mater, denticulate ligaments, conus medullaris, cauda equina, filum terminale, cervical enlargement, lumbar enlargement, anterior median fissure, dorsal root, dorsal root ganglion, dorsal ramus, ventral root, ventral ramus, sympathetic trunk, gray ramus communicans, white ramus communicans grey matter: central canal, substantia gelatinosa of Rolando, reticular formation, substantia gelatinosa centralis, interneuron, anterior horn, lateral horn, posterior horn (column of Clarke, dorsal spinocerebellar tract) white matter: anterior funiculus: descending (anterior corticospinal tract, vestibulospinal fasciculus, tectospinal tract), ascending (anterior spinothalamic tract, anterior proper fasciculus) lateral funiculus: descending (lateral corticospinal tract, rubrospinal tract, olivospinal tract), ascending dorsal spinocerebellar tract, ventral spinocerebellar tract, spinothalamic tract, lateral spinothalamic tract, anterior spinothalamic tract, spinotectal tract, posterolateral tract, lateral proper fasciculus, medial longitudinal fasciculus posterior funiculus: fasciculus gracilis, fasciculus cuneatus, posterior proper fasciculus

v·d·e Brain: rhombencephalon (hindbrain)
Metencephalon/ pons	{| class="navbox collapsible nowraplinks" style="margin:auto; background:white;background:white;"
[[[:Template:Fullurl:Template:]] v]·[[[:Template:Fullurl:Template talk:]] d]·[[[:Template:Fullurl:Template:]] e]
Dorsal/ (tegmentum)	surface: Locus ceruleus Trigeminal lemniscus (Dorsal trigeminal tract, Ventral trigeminal tract) cranial nuclei: GSA: Principal V/Spinal V - VIII-c (Dorsal, Anterior)/VIII-v (Lateral, Superior, Medial, Inferior) - SVE: Motor V - VII - GSE: VI - GVE: VII: Superior salivary nucleus MLF, III, IV and VI (vestibulo-oculomotor fibers, medial vestibulospinal tract) sensory/ascending: Trapezoid body/VIII - Superior olivary nucleus Inferior cerebellar peduncle (Vestibulocerebellar tract) motor/descending: Apneustic center • Pneumotaxic center (Medial parabrachial nucleus) - Lateral parabrachial nucleus
Ventral/ (base)	Middle cerebellar peduncles (Pontocerebellar fibers) - Pontine nuclei motor/descending: Corticospinal tract - Corticobulbar tract - Corticopontine fibers
Raphe/reticular	Reticular formation (Caudal, Oral, Tegmental, Paramedian) • Raphe nuclei (Median)

|- style="white-space:nowrap;background:#ddddff;text-align:right;background-color: LightYellow" ! Myelencephalon/
medulla | colspan="1" style="text-align:left;width:100%;font-size:95%;background:#f7f7f7;" | {| class="navbox collapsible nowraplinks" style="margin:auto; background:white;background:white;" |- style="text-align:center;width:100%;"

!colspan="2" |

|- |- style="white-space:nowrap;background:#ddddff;text-align:right;padding-left:0em;padding-right:0em;background-color: LightYellow"

!

| colspan="1" style="text-align:left;width:100%;font-size:95%;" | surface: Posterior median sulcus - Postero-lateral sulcus - Area postrema

cranial nuclei: GVA: VII,IX,X: Solitary/tract • SVA: Gustatory nucleus • GSE: XII  • GVE: IX,X,XI: Ambiguus • SVE: X: Dorsal • IX: Inferior salivatory nucleus - MLF, III, IV and VI

sensory/ascending: Gracile nucleus • Cuneate nucleus (Accessory cuneate nucleus) • Sensory decussation  • Medial lemniscus

motor/descending: Dorsal respiratory group
|- style="white-space:nowrap;background:#ddddff;text-align:right;padding-left:0em;padding-right:0em;background-color: LightYellow"

!

| colspan="1" style="text-align:left;width:100%;font-size:95%;background:#f7f7f7;" | motor/descending: Ventral respiratory group - Pyramid (Motor decussation) - Inferior olivary nucleus (Olivocerebellar tract, Rubro-olivary tract)
surface: Anterior median fissure - Antero-lateral sulcus - Arcuate nucleus of medulla - Olivary body
|- style="white-space:nowrap;background:#ddddff;text-align:right;padding-left:0em;padding-right:0em;background-color: LightYellow"

!

| colspan="1" style="text-align:left;width:100%;font-size:95%;" | Reticular formation (Gigantocellular, Parvocellular, Ventral, Lateral, Paramedian) • Raphe nuclei (Obscurus, Magnus, Pallidus) |} |}

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Vestibulospinal tract. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.