neuro question

[anhoi]

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Hi everyone,

just wondering if anyone out there can help me out with this question...

are the dorsal column system and the tract of lissauer synonymous? little confused, i know the dcs is an ascending tract carrying sensory afferents and crosses at the medial lemniscus...but wondering what the tract of lissauer is...

thanks!

 

[Pitt Panther]

No, they're not the same thing.

The Dorsal Column Tract carries discriminative touch sensations and proprioception from the torso and the limbs. It has two divisions:

Lateral dorsal column tract (fasciculus cuneatus) sensory information from the legs

Medial dorsal column tract (fasciculus gracilis) sensory information from the arms/upper trunk
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Lissauer's Tract is just a "small" piece of the Anterior Spinothalamic Tract and the Lateral Spinothalamic Tract. The first order neurons of the AST and LST join together to enter the spinal cord via Lissauer's Tract aka the Dorsolateral Fasciculus. The fibers of Lissauer's Tract either ascend or descend one or two segments of the spinal cord to synapse with the second order neurons located in the dorsal gray column. That's it.

I hope this makes sense.

 

[anhoi]

Pitt,

thanks man, that makes perfect sense, i guess you've taken a mammallian neuroanatomy class too? that was a pretty darn good guess if you haven't! =)

 

[Pitt Panther]

No problem man, I'm glad I could help. It would be fair to say that I've had a few neuroanatomy classes in my time haha.

At any rate, have a good holiday.