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Related Concept Videos

Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways01:29

Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways

Somatic sensory or somatosensory pathways refer to the neural pathways that carry information related to touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception from the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints to the brain. These pathways involve several stages of processing and integration of sensory information.
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...
Major Somatic Sensory Pathways01:28

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the posterior columns...
Hierarchy of Motor Control01:18

Hierarchy of Motor Control

The hierarchy of motor control refers to the different levels of organization and processing involved in controlling movement in the body. These levels range from higher cortical areas involved in planning and decision-making to lower spinal cord reflexes that respond automatically to external stimuli.
Direct Motor Pathways01:11

Direct Motor Pathways

The direct motor pathways, also known as the pyramidal tracts, are a group of neural pathways that originate in the brain and descend through the spinal cord. They control the voluntary movement of the body. There are two major direct motor pathways: the corticospinal and the corticobulbar tracts.
The corticospinal tract is responsible for the voluntary movement of the limbs and trunk. It originates in the cerebral cortex of the brain and descends through the cerebrum's internal capsule and the...
Indirect Motor Pathways01:22

Indirect Motor Pathways

The indirect motor or extrapyramidal pathways originate in the brainstem, the lower portion of the brain that connects it to the spinal cord. They consist of several distinct tracts, each with specialized functions. The four main tracts of the indirect motor pathways are the vestibulospinal tract, the reticulospinal tract, the tectospinal tract, and the rubrospinal tract.
The vestibulospinal tract originates in the vestibular nuclei of the brainstem. The vestibular system detects changes in...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 30, 2026

The Vermicelli and Capellini Handling Tests: Simple quantitative measures of dexterous forepaw function in rats and mice
09:37

The Vermicelli and Capellini Handling Tests: Simple quantitative measures of dexterous forepaw function in rats and mice

Published on: July 22, 2010

Parallel pathways mediating manual dexterity in the macaque.

I Darian-Smith1, K Burman, C Darian-Smith

  • 1Brain Research Laboratory, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia, darian@ozemail.com.au

Experimental Brain Research
|September 4, 1999
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Parallel pathways are crucial for rapid and secure motor control, enabling quick information transfer for complex hand movements. This study reviews their structure and function in primates, highlighting their importance over serial systems.

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 30, 2026

The Vermicelli and Capellini Handling Tests: Simple quantitative measures of dexterous forepaw function in rats and mice
09:37

The Vermicelli and Capellini Handling Tests: Simple quantitative measures of dexterous forepaw function in rats and mice

Published on: July 22, 2010

Behavioral Assessment of Manual Dexterity in Non-Human Primates
16:00

Behavioral Assessment of Manual Dexterity in Non-Human Primates

Published on: November 11, 2011

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings
07:08

Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings

Published on: August 1, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Motor Control
  • Primate Studies

Background:

  • Voluntary hand movements require precise coordination, speed, and accuracy.
  • Traditional serial, hierarchical control systems are insufficient for complex motor tasks.
  • Parallel sensorimotor pathways are essential for efficient information transfer.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the structural organization of parallel sensorimotor pathways in macaques.
  • To examine corticospinal neuron subpopulations and their adaptation after spinal cord injury.
  • To investigate parallel transmission within single neuron populations, specifically rubrospinal neurons.

Main Methods:

  • Review of structural organization of corticospinal and corticocerebellar pathways.
  • Analysis of corticospinal neuron subpopulations after cervical spinal cord hemisection.
  • Structural analysis of somatic/dendritic organization of rubrospinal neurons in the macaque red nucleus.

Main Results:

  • Parallel transmission systems, not serial ones, account for hand function recovery after spinal hemisection.
  • Corticospinal neuron subpopulations adapt structurally following spinal cord injury.
  • Large dendritic fields in rubrospinal neurons facilitate precise somatotopic information extraction.

Conclusions:

  • Parallel sensorimotor pathways are fundamental for manual dexterity in primates.
  • The structural organization of these pathways supports rapid, secure, and precise motor control.
  • Parallel processing within neurons is critical for filtering and spatial resolution of sensorimotor information.