The reticulospinal tract (or anterior reticulospinal tract) is an extrapyramidal

Extrapyramidal

Extrapyramidal can refer to:* Extrapyramidal system* Extrapyramidal symptoms...

 motor tract which travels from the reticular formation

Reticular formation

The reticular formation is a part of the brain that is involved in actions such as awaking/sleeping cycle, and filtering incoming stimuli to discriminate irrelevant background stimuli...

.

Functions

1. Integrates information from the motor systems to coordinate automatic movements of locomotion and posture.

2. Facilitates and inhibits voluntary movement, influences muscle tone.

3. Mediates autonomic functions

4. Modulates pain impulses

5. Influences blood flow to lateral geniculate

Components

The tract is divided into two parts, the medial (or pontine) and lateral (or medullary) reticulospinal tracts (MRST and LRST).

• The MRST is responsible for exciting anti-gravity, extensor muscles. The fibers of this tract arise from the caudal pontine reticular nucleus and the oral pontine reticular nucleus and project to the lamina VII and lamina VIII of the spinal cord (BrainInfo)

• The LRST is responsible for the inhibiting excitatory axial extensor muscles of movement. The fibers of this tract arise from the medullary reticular formation, mostly from the gigantocellular nucleus, and descend the length of the spinal cord in the anterior part of the lateral column. The tract terminates in the gray spinal laminae (BrainInfo).

The sensory tract conveying information in the opposite direction is known as the "spinoreticular tract

Spinoreticular tract

The spinoreticular tract is an ascending pathway in the white matter of the spinal cord, positioned closely to the lateral spinothalamic tract...

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Clinical significance

If the superior colliculus

Superior colliculus

The optic tectum or simply tectum is a paired structure that forms a major component of the vertebrate midbrain. In mammals this structure is more commonly called the superior colliculus , but, even in mammals, the adjective tectal is commonly used. The tectum is a layered structure, with a...

 is damaged, it is called decerebration and causes decerebrate rigidity.

The reticulospinal tracts also provide a pathway by which the hypothalamus can control sympathetic thoracolumbar outflow and parasympathetic sacral outflow.

External links

• BrainInfo reticulospinal tract http://braininfo.rprc.washington.edu/Scripts/hiercentraldirectory.aspx?ID=802, pontine reticulospinal tract http://braininfo.rprc.washington.edu/Scripts/ancilcentraldirectory.aspx?ID=975, and medullary reticulospinal tract http://braininfo.rprc.washington.edu/Scripts/ancilcentraldirectory.aspx?ID=972.
• http://www.lib.mcg.edu/edu/eshuphysio/program/section8/8ch6/s8ch6_29.htm
• http://www.mona.uwi.edu/fpas/courses/physiology/neurophysiology/The%20Reticulospinal%20Pathway.htm