Anterior reticulospinal tract
Tractus reticulospinalis anterior
- Synonym: Ventral reticulospinal tract
- Related terms: Anterior reticulospinal tract; Ventral reticulospinal tract
Definition
The anterior reticulospinal tract is often used interchangeably with the medial reticulospinal tract. Both refer to the tract that originates in the medial reticular formation of the pons, descends uncrossed in the anterior funiculus, and primarily facilitates activity of alpha and gamma motor neurons in the anterior horns of spinal cord.
This tract also carries descending autonomic fibers that regulate thoracolumbar sympathetic and sacral parasympathetic outflows.
References
Snell, R.S. (2010). ‘Chapter 4: The Spinal Cord and the Ascending and Descending Tracts’, in Clinical Neuroanatomy. (7th ed.) Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, pp. 157-158.
