Spinotectal tract

The spinotectal tract is an example of an ascending sensory tract. The axons of first order neurons for spinotectal tract arise from the dorsal root ganglion and enter the posterior gray columns of spinal cord. The cell bodies of the second order neurons have not been clearly identified in the posterior horn. However, the axons of these second order neurons have been traced crossing the midline (or decussating) in the spinal cord. From here the spinotectal tract ascends in the anterolateral funiculus (or anterolateral white column), along with the lateral and anterior spinothalamic tracts. The tract ascends further through the medulla oblongata and pons to reach the mid-brain where the second order neurons terminate by synapsing with the superior colliculus.

The spinotectal tract plays an important role in providing afferent (sensory) information to the superior colliculus. This information helps superior colliculus to bring off spinovisual reflexes, such as, moving our eyes towards a visual stimulus (via connections of superior colliculus with cranial nerve nuclei for extraocular movements; a.k.a. tectobulbar tract). Or moving our neck towards the visual stream (via connections of superior colliculus with anterior horns of cervical spinal cord; a.k.a. tectospinal tract).