The Cerebral Cortex

Figure 1412b

3 Functional Principles of the Cerebrum

1. Each cerebral hemisphere receives sensory
information from, and sends motor commands
to, the opposite side of body
2. The 2 hemispheres have different functions
although their structures are alike
3. Correspondence between a specific function
and a specific region of cerebral cortex is not
precise

Functional Areas of the Cerebral Cortex

The three types of functional areas are:
Motor areascontrol voluntary movemen
Sensory areasconscious awareness of
sensation
Association areasintegrate diverse
information

Conscious behavior involves the entire

cortex

Sensory Pathways
Specialized cells (Sensory Receptors) monitor specific
conditions in the body or external environment
When stimulated, a receptor passes info to the CNS in
the form of an AP along the axon of a sensory neuron
Sensory Pathways then deliver somatic and visceral
sensory info to their final destinations inside the CNS

 Sensory info from toes arrives at one end of the

primary sensory cortex
While from the head it arrives at the other
A Sensory Homunculus is a functional map of
the primary sensory cortex

Cerebral Cortex - The outermost layer of gray matter

making up the superficial aspect of the cerebrum.

Cerebral

Cortex
Cerebral

Cortex

Longitudinal fissure
Lateral
ventricle
Basal nuclei
Caudate
Putamen
Globus
pallidus
Thalamus

Superior

Commissural
fibers (corpus
callosum)
Association
fibers
Corona radiata
Fornix
Internal
capsule
Gray matter

Third
ventricle

White matter

Pons

Projection
fibers

Medulla oblongata
(a)

Decussation
of pyramids
Figure 12.10a

NERVOUS SYSTEM (NS)

Central
Nervous System (CNS)
[Spinal cord and Brain]

Peripheral
Nervous System (PNS)
[All neural tissue outside the CNS]

Efferent division
[motor commands
from CNS]

Afferent division
[sensory information to
CNS]

Sensory Pathways
Afferent Division of the Nervous System:
Receptors
Sensory neurons
Sensory pathways

Ascending tracts
Fasciculus gracilis
Dorsal
white Fasciculus cuneatus
column
Dorsal
spinocerebellar
tract
Ventral
spinocerebellar
tract
Lateral
spinothalamic tract
Ventral spinothalamic
tract

Descending tracts
Ventral white
commissure
Lateral
reticulospinal tract
Lateral
corticospinal tract
Rubrospinal
tract
Medial
reticulospinal
tract
Ventral corticospinal
tract
Vestibulospinal tract
Tectospinal tract

Figure 12.33

Gray Matter
Dorsal hornsinterneurons that receive somatic
and visceral sensory input
Ventral hornssomatic motor neurons whose
axons exit the cord via ventral roots
Lateral horns (only in thoracic and lumbar
regions) sympathetic neurons
Dorsal root (spinal) gangliacontain cell bodies
of sensory neurons

White Matter
Consists mostly of ascending (sensory) and
descending (motor) tracts
Transverse tracts (commissural fibers) cross
from one side to the other
Tracts are located in three white columns
(funiculi on each sidedorsal (posterior), lateral,
and ventral (anterior)
Each spinal tract is composed of axons with
similar functions

Dorsal median sulcus

Dorsal funiculus
White
Ventral funiculus
columns Lateral funiculus
Dorsal root
ganglion
Spinal nerve
Dorsal root
(fans out into
dorsal rootlets)
Ventral root
(derived from several
ventral rootlets)

Gray
commissure
Dorsal horn Gray
Ventral horn matter
Lateral horn

Central canal

Ventral median
fissure
Pia mater
Arachnoid mater
Spinal dura mater

Figure 12.31b

Basic Sensory Spinal Pathway

First-Order Neuron delivers sensations to the CNS
The cell body of a first-order sensory neuron is
located in dorsal root ganglion or cranial nerve
ganglion
Axon of the sensory neuron synapses on an
interneuron (Second-Order Neuron) in the CNS
May be located in the spinal cord or brain stem
If the sensation is to reach our awareness, the
second-order neuron synapses on a third-order
neuron in the thalamus (relays all sensory info,
except smell to the cerebral cortex).

Higher center (cerebral cortex)

Synapse with

Synapse with

3rd order neurons

2nd order neuron

In Brain (eg thalamus)

In CNS (spinal cord)

1st order neuron (sensory)

Synapse with

Receptor

Processing
The thalamus determines whether you
perceive a given sensation as fine touch, as
pressure, or as vibration
The ability to determine precisely where on
the body a specific stimulus originated
depends on the projection of information from
the thalamus to the primary sensory cortex

Somatic Sensory Pathways

Carry sensory information from the skin and

musculature of the body wall, head, neck, and
limbs

Somatic Sensory Pathways:

The Dorsal-lemniscal (Posterior) Column Pathway

The Anterolateral (Spinothalamic) Pathway

The Spinocerebellar Pathway

The Posterior Column Pathway

fine touch
pressure
vibrations
proprioception

Posterior Column Pathway

Carries sensations of highly
localized (fine) touch,
pressure, vibration, and
proprioception
1st 0rder neuron synapses with
2nd order neuron in medulla
oblongata
Axons synapse on the thirdorder neurons in the thalamus
The thalamus then sorts the
arriving information according to:
the nature of the stimulus
the region of the body
Figure 155a
involved

The Posterior Column Pathway

inferior half of body
first order neuron in (dorsal root ganglion)
DRG
up the fasciculus gracilis to the
nucleus gracilis of med. oblong.
superior half of body
first order neuron in DRG
up the fasciculus cuneatus to the
nucleus cuneatus of med. oblong.

The Posterior Column Pathway

second order neuron in nucleus
cross to other side and ascend to
the ventral nucleus of thalamus
third order neuron in thalamus
project to the primary sensory cortex

Dorsal
spinocerebellar
tract (axons of
second-order
neurons)

Medial lemniscus (tract)

(axons of second-order neurons)
Nucleus gracilis
Nucleus cuneatus
Medulla oblongata
Fasciculus cuneatus
(axon of first-order sensory neuron)

Axon of
first-order
neuron
Muscle spindle
(proprioceptor)

Spinocerebellar
pathway

Joint stretch
receptor
(proprioceptor)
Cervical spinal cord
Fasciculus gracilis
(axon of first-order sensory neuron)
Lumbar spinal cord

Dorsal columnmedial
lemniscal pathway

Touch
receptor

Figure 12.34a (2 of 2)

The Spinocerebellar Pathway

posterior s.c. tracts
axons that do not cross over to the
opposite side of the spinal cord
axons reach the cerebellar cortex via the
inferior cerebellar peduncle of that side

The Spinocerebellar Pathway

anterior s.c. tracts
dominated by axons that cross over to the
opposite side of the spinal cord and ascend
to cerebellum
sensations reach the cerebellar cortex
via the superior cerebellar peduncle
proprioceptive information arrives at the
Purkinje cells of the cerebellar cortex

The Anterolateral Pathway

Provides conscious sensations of poorly
localized (crude) touch, pressure, pain, and
temperature
In anterolateral pathway, axons of first-order
sensory neurons enter spinal cord and synapse
on second-order neurons within posterior gray
horns
Axons of the second-order neuron (interneuron)
cross to the opposite side of the spinal cord
before ascending

The Anterolateral Pathway

crude touch
pressure
pain
temperature

The Anterolateral Pathway

first order neuron in DRG
synapses on second order neuron
in dorsal horn of spinal cord

second order neuron

cross to opposite side and ascend

The Anterolateral Pathway

second order neuron in spinal cord
cross to other side and ascend to
the ventral nucleus of thalamus
third order neuron in ventral thalamus
project to the primary sensory cortex

The Anterolateral Pathway

second order neuron
cross to opposite side and ascend
anterior spinothalamic tract
crude touch and pressure
to ventral nucleus of thalamus
lateral spinothalamic tract
pain and temperature
to ventral nucleus of thalamus

 Sensations Bound for Cerebral Cortex ascend

within the anterior or lateral spinothalamic tracts:
the anterior spinothalamic tracts carry crude
touch and pressure sensations
The lateral spinothalamic tracts carry pain and
temperature sensations
Tracts end at the third-order neurons of the
thalamus
After the sensations have been sorted and
processed, they are relayed to primary sensory
cortex
Figure 155b

The Anterolateral Pathway

Figure 155a, b

Solitary Nucleus
Large nucleus in the medulla oblongata
Major processing and sorting center for visceral
sensory information
Extensive connections with the various
cardiovascular and respiratory centers, reticular
formation
First-order neurons deliver the visceral sensory
information to the interneurons whose axons ascend
within the spinothalamic pathway
Most of the sensory information is delivered to the
solitary nucleus because it never reaches the
primary sensory cortex we remain unaware of these
sensations

Feeling Pain
An individual can feel pain in uninjured part of body
when pain actually originates at another location
Strong visceral pain sensations arriving at a
segment of the spinal cord can stimulate
interneurons that are part of anterolateral pathway
Activity in the interneurons leads to stimulation of the
primary sensory cortex, so an individual feels pain in
a specific part of body surface:
also called referred pain

Referred Pain
The pain of a heart attack is frequently felt in the
left arm
The pain of appendicitis is generally felt first in
the area around the navel and then in the right
lower quadrant

Figure 156