Question

Mary is in an automobile accident and suffers a spinal cord injury. She has lost feeling in her lower body. Her doctor tells her that swelling is compressing a portion of her spinal cord. Which part of her cord is likely to be compressed?A) the anterior gray hornsB) the anterior gray commissuresC) ascending tractsD) descending tractsE) the anterior white commissures

Answer 1

C) option is correct

Explanation:

• The spinal cord has numerous groups of nerve fibers going towards and coming from the brain
• These have been collectively called the ascending and descending tracts of the spinal cord, respectively, these tracts are responsible for carrying sensory and motor stimuli to and from the periphery (respectively)
• The ascending tracts transmit sensory information from the sensory receptors to higher levels of the CNS
• The descending tracts originate from different cortical areas and from brain stem nuclei
• The descending pathway carry information associated with maintenance of motor activities such as posture, balance, muscle tone, and visceral and somatic reflex activity