No 28 - 辽宁医学院.ppt

No. 28 1. Motor Pathways Ⅱ. The Motor (descending) Pathways The motor pathways are concerned with motor function, and composed of upper motor neurons and lower motor neurons. The upper motor neurons are the efferent neurons from the cerebral cortex to the motor nuclei of cranial nerves and anterior horns of spinal cord. The lower motor neurons are the nerves in the motor nuclei of cranial nerves and the anterior horns of spinal cord. The cell bodies and axons of lower motor neurons serve as the final common pathway connecting motor impulses. The motor pathways include pyramidal and extrapyramidal systems. Ⅰ) The Pyramidal System It is concerned with the voluntary movement of the skeletal muscles and is composed of two orders of neurons, i.e. the upper and lower motor neurons. The upper motor neurons are composed of the giant pyramidal cells (Betz cells) and other pyramidal cells of various sized which are located in the precentral gyrus and the anterior part of paracentral lobule and the pyramidal cells in the some areas of frontal, parietal lobes. Their axons form the descending pyramidal tract, among which, the fibers ending in the cranial motor nuclei are designated as the corticonuclear tract and those terminating in the anterior horn of the spinal cord as corticospinal tract. The lower motor neurons include the cranial motor cells of the brain stem and spinal motor cells of the spinal cord. 1. The corticospinal tract The upper motor neurons are the pyramidal pyramidal cells in the superior and middle parts of the precentral gyrus and the anterior part of paracentral lobule. The axons arising from these upper motor neurons form the corticospinal tract. It traverses the posterior limb of internal capsule, the intermediate 3/5 of the crus cerebri, the basilar part of the pons, and the ventral part of the medulla oblongata. In the caudal part of the medulla oblongata the greater part (75-90%) of the tract crosses to the opposite side to form the pyramidal decus