The Descending Tracts

The Descending Tracts

Dec 10, 2022 | 2 comments

The descending tracts are pathways whereby motor signals travel from the brain to the lower motor neurons to innervate muscles and cause movement. There are no synapses in the descending pathways. All of the neurons in the descending tracts are upper motor neurons,...
The Ascending Tracts

The Ascending Tracts

Nov 10, 2022 | 0 comments

The ascending tracts are neural pathways located in the white matter that conduct afferent information from the peripheral nerves to the cerebral cortex. There are usually three neurons in an ascending pathway: First-order neurons, in which the cell body is in the...
Overview of the Cranial Nerves

Overview of the Cranial Nerves

Oct 10, 2022 | 0 comments

There are twelve paired cranial nerves in total, and they all arise directly from the brain, in contrast to the spinal nerves, which arise from segments of the spinal cord. The cranial nerves are accordingly numbered by the location within the brainstem (superior to...
Upper Limb Nerve Lesions (Part 2 – The Radial Nerve)

Upper Limb Nerve Lesions (Part 2 – The Radial Nerve)

Oct 10, 2016 | 1 comment

In Part 1 of our ‘Upper Limb Nerve Lesions’ series we learnt about the brachial plexus and the two most commonly occurring lesions associated with damage to it. We now move on to the radial nerve and its associated nerve lesions. The radial nerve is a major branch of...
Upper Limb Nerve Lesions (Part 1 – The Brachial Plexus)

Upper Limb Nerve Lesions (Part 1 – The Brachial Plexus)

Sep 9, 2016 | 5 comments

Upper limb nerve lesions are commonly tested in the basic sciences section of both undergraduate and postgraduate medical examinations and occur very frequently in the FRCEM and MRCS examinations. They are very important because they occur commonly in clinical...