Reticulospinal Tract

Authors
Affiliations

Nate Yomogida, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.S. in Kinesiology

Chloë Kerstein, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.A. in Neuroscience

The reticulospinal tract is an extrapyramidal tract that is part of the medial motor systems which spans the entire spinal cord to function in automatic posture and gait-related movements.

Muscle stretch reflex / tone

“where dorsal RST arises. Hence, the area of cerebellum inhibits muscle tone indirectly through inhibition of gamma motor”

Pathway

Input

  • Pontine
  • Medullary reticular formation

Pathway

  • The reticulospinal tract decussates in the midbrain at the dorsal tegmental decussation.
  • The reticulospinal tract spans the entire spinal cord, travelling through the anterior horn

Somatotopic organization of medial and lateral motor system Projections to Anterior Horn Cells1

Somatotopic organization of medial and lateral motor system Projections to Anterior Horn Cells

Output

Function

Medial reticulospinal tract

  • AKA Ventral reticulospinal tract
  • AKA Pontine reticulospinal tract

Lateral reticulospinal tract

  • AKA Dorsal reticulospinal tract
  • AKA Medullary reticulospinal tract

References

1.
Blumenfeld H. Neuroanatomy Through Clinical Cases. 3rd ed. Oxford university press; 2022.
2.
Ganguly J, Kulshreshtha D, Almotiri M, Jog M. Muscle Tone Physiology and Abnormalities. Toxins. 2021;13(4):282. doi:10.3390/toxins13040282

Citation

For attribution, please cite this work as: