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Concept
Spinocerebellar tract
Summary
The spinocerebellar tract is a nerve tract originating in the spinal cord and terminating in the same side (ipsilateral) of the cerebellum.
Proprioceptive information is obtained by Golgi tendon organs and muscle spindles.
Golgi tendon organs consist of a fibrous capsule enclosing tendon fascicles and bare nerve endings that respond to tension in the tendon by causing action potentials in type Ib afferents. These fibers are relatively large, myelinated, and quickly conducting.
Muscle spindles monitor the length within muscles and send information via faster Ia afferents. These axons are larger and faster than type Ib (from both nuclear bag fibers and nuclear chain fibers) and type II afferents (solely from nuclear chain fibers).
All of these neurons are sensory (first order, or primary) and have their cell bodies in the dorsal root ganglia. They pass through Rexed laminae layers I-VI of the posterior grey column (dorsal horn) to form synapses with second order or secondary neurons in layer VII just beneath the dorsal horn.
The tract is divided into:
The dorsal spinocerebellar tract (posterior spinocerebellar tract, Flechsig's fasciculus, Flechsig's tract) conveys proprioceptive information from proprioceptors in the skeletal muscles and joints to the cerebellum.
It is part of the somatosensory system and runs in parallel with the ventral spinocerebellar tract. It carries proprioceptive information from muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs of ipsilateral part of trunk and lower limb.
Proprioceptive information is taken to the spinal cord via central processes of dorsal root ganglia (first order neurons). These central processes travel through the dorsal horn where they synapse with second order neurons of Clarke's nucleus. Axon fibers from Clarke's Nucleus convey this proprioceptive information in the spinal cord in the peripheral region of the funiculus lateralis ipsilaterally. The fibers continue to course through the medulla oblongata of the brainstem, at which point they pass through the inferior cerebellar peduncle and into the cerebellum, where unconscious proprioceptive information is processed.
Official source
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