Going Down?

If you’re a client of ours, or even just follow our social media, then you’ll know that here at Team Peak we’re all about the brain. It’s the most important organ in the body, controlling everything you do. 

But how does it do it? The simple answer is via the nervous system, but you all know it’s a little more complicated than that. 

In this blog I’m going to introduce you to the descending tracts of the spinal cord. These are the ones that relay information from the brain to the body, which in turn helps coordinate our movements and function. 

Lateral Corticospinal Tract

• Carries motor signals from the brain to the muscles of the limbs

Anterior Corticospinal Tract

• Carried motor signals from the brain to the muscles of the trunk

Vestibulospinal Tract

• Uses eyes and ears to help maintain head posture
• Maintains posture and balance by activating the extensor muscles

Ponto Reticulospinal Tract 

• Assists the Vestibulospinal Tract 
• Maintains posture and balance by activating the extensor muscles

Rubrospinal Tract

• Controls the flexor muscles, predominantly of the upper limb

Medullary Reticulospinal Tract

• Assists the Rubrospinal Tract

Tectospinal Tract 

• Reflexive response of the head and neck to auditory or visual stimulus

It’s important to know what each tract is responsible for, so we can piece together what is going on in your body during an assessment. We can assess  the function of each of these tracts by testing certain movements or reflexes and seeing your response. As most of these tracts run alongside each other, certain conditions can affect multiple tracts (pathologies such as MS, ALS, spinal injury etc). 

If you’re get pain when you move, or feel a bit uncoordinated and clumsy, get yourself booked in for a consultation where we can assess each of these tracts (as well as many more!) to figure out exactly what's going on and how we can help you.