PYRAMIDAL TRACTS OF THE PRESENTATION BY GROUP

SOMATOMOTOR SYSTEM THREE

 GENERAL OVERVIEW
The somatomotor system is responsible for voluntary movement
of skeletal muscles of the body and is important in the control of
posture.
This system consists of neuronal tracts known as the descending
tracts .
Motor pathways are classified as either pyramidal or extra
pyramidal depending on the situation of their fibers in the
medulla oblongata.
Pyramidal tracts (corticospinal and corticobulbar tracts ) pass
through the medulla oblongata and there fibers form pyramids in
the upper medulla.as the fibers run from the cerebral cortex to the
spinal cord, the fibers of these two tracts give the appearance of a
pyramid on the upper part of the anterior surface of the medulla
oblongata hence their name.
Motor pathways that do not transverse the medullary pyramids
are known as extra pyramidal tracts
 PYRAMIDAL TRACTS

Pyramidal
cells in the
primary motor
cortex

A major tract in primates

Mainly for fine motor control

Homunculus in primary motor cortex

CORTICOSPINAL TRACT
This is a descending pathway that runs from the motor
cortex and project to the periphery via the spinal cord
The corticospinal tract is responsible for the voluntary
movement of the limbs and postural muscles in the
trunk
This tract consists of two neurons the upper and lower
motor neuron(UMN & LMN respectively).
The upper motor neuron originates from the motor
cortex to the spinal cord via the internal capsule and
synapses with the lower motor neuron in the ventral
horn of the spinal gray mater that innervates skeletal
muscles.
The corticospinal and the corticobulbar tracts originate
from different parts of the cerebral cortex.
And about 31% of the neurons forming these tracts
originate from the primary motor cortex , 29% from the
premotor cortex and supplementary motor cortex .The
remaining 40% originate in the parietal lobe and primary
somatosensory area in the postcentral gyrus.
CORTICOSPINAL (PYAMIDAL ) TRACT
Axons of all the upper motor neurons descend
through the corona radiata and coalesce as they
descend to form part of the internal capsule passing
between the thalamus and lentiform nucleus.
The fibers pass through cerebral peduncle in the
midbrain and the basilar pons and form a large
bundle on the ventral surface of the medulla
oblongata (the pyramid).
At the medulla-spinal junction, the corticospinal tract splits into
two branches that innervate two sets of muscles that will
perform two functions
About 80% of the fibers in this tract decussate (that is cross the
midline) at the medullary pyramids forming the lateral
corticospinal tract and 20% fibers only decussate at spinal
level forming the anterior or ventral corticospinal tracts .
This means that an upper motor neuron will project to a
contralateral lower motor neuron and control muscle movement
on the contralateral side on the body .
The lateral corticospinal tract neurons descend in the lateral
white matter of the spinal cord and make monosynaptic
connections to the motor neurons especially those concerned
with skilled movement. Some of these corticospinal neurons
terminate on spinal interneurons synapsing with motor neurons
,this pathway is cardinal for coordination of groups of muscles .
The fibers of this tract innervate the proximal and distal muscles
of the limbs and are therefore responsible for movement of the
arms and the legs. Lesion in this tract may result in loss of distal
musculature of limbs affecting fine skilled movements.
.
The ventral or anterior corticospinal tract fibers
innervate the axial muscles of the trunk responsible for
posture and balance and also some of the proximal
muscles of the limb.
Lesions of this tract produces axial muscle deficits that
results in difficulty with balance, walking and climbing
CORTICOSPINAL TRACT
Origin – Sensory cortex, primary Motor Cortex, premotor & supplementary cortex
(40%) (30%) (30%)

Internal Capsule

Cerebral Peduncle (midbarain)

Pons

Medullary Pyramid

Pyramidal Decussation

Lat.Cross & Vent. Uncross White matter in spinal cord

Ant. Horn of spinal cord through a interconnection

α motor neuron of opposite side

From cortex (only about 50% from primary
motor cortex)

Passes through the posterior limb of the

internal capsule in somatotopic order

Passes through cerebral peduncles

Sends branches off to bulbar nuclei (both ipsi

and contra) cortico-
bulbar

At pyramids 85% cross midline

50-55% end in cervical cord

cortico-
5-10% direct on motor neurons spinal
CORTICOBULBAR TRACT
Corticobulbar tract basically deals with neurons
originating in the primary motor cortex of the frontal lobe
in the precentral gyrus also known as the brodmann area
and terminate in the bulbar(Archaic for medulla
oblongata)
This tract consists of fibers that pass from the motor
cortex to the motor neurons in the trigeminal, facial and
hypoglossal nuclei in the brainstem and are involved in
the control of muscles of the head, face and tongue.
The tracts descend through the corona radiata and
traverse the genu of the internal capsule , through to the
cerebral peduncle , to descend with the corticospinal
tract fibers in the pons.
Corticobulbar neuron may either terminate directly on
the cranial nerve nuclei or on their antecedent
interneurons in the brain stem.
THE END