The Spinocerebellar Pathway

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The Spinocerebellar Pathway

• Unconscious Proprioception

"When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and
Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing
which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite
different when it gets out into the open and has
other people looking at it." -A. A. Milne
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Introduction

• The Spinocerebellar system conveys
  propriosensation from the legs, trunk, arms, and
  face to the cerebellum.
• These tracts do not reach the cortex therefore,
  they are sometimes referred to as unconscious.
• As in other sensory pathways, cell bodies of
  primary neurons reside in the dorsal root
  ganglia.

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From the lower limb.

• The lower limb and trunk fibers enter the
  dorsolatereral fasciculus (Tract of Lissauer),
  synapse in the Dorsal Nucleus of Clarke, and then
  ascend ipsilaterally in the lateral fasciculus.

Clarkes Nucleus
Lissauers Tract
Lateral fasciculus
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And the upper limb.

• The upper limb fibers enter the dorsolateral
  fasciculus, synapse in the external cuneate
  nucleus, and join the lower limb and trunk fibers.

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And finally from the face...

• The head and neck fibers enter via the trigeminal
  nerve, synapse in the trigeminal complex, and
  join the other fibers.

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The journey nears an end

• These fibers travel to the cerebellum via the
  inferior cerebellar peduncle.

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And now for the movie.