Brain Pathways

Nigrostriatal Pathway

pathway where DA neuron axons send dopamine to caudate and putamen, for generating, maintaining, and initiating movements

Mesolimbic Pathway

‘reward’ pathway where DA neuron axons send dopamine to frontal cortex and nucleus accumbens for motivation, mood

Dorsal Stream

part of occipital lobe that carries information to parietal lobe: ‘Where is it?’

Ventral Stream 

part of occipital lobe that carries information to temporal lobe: ‘What is it?’

Dorsal Column Pathway

sends axon into dorsal horn of spinal cord to ipsilaterally ascend into brain, synapse in dorsal column, cross in brainstem, then ascend to thalamus for somatosensory

Spinothalamic System Pathway

axons cross in sacral spinal cord then ascend into thalamus for somatosensory 

Thalamic Touch Relay

pain and touch info that travels through the VPL and VPM thalamus before getting to somatosensory cortex

Descending Pain Modulation

spinothalamic tract sends axon to periaqueductal grey then to Raphe Nuclei where pain-sensing neurons in spinal cord are inhibited

Auditory ‘WHAT’ pathway

pathway for object recognition/sound discrimination that starts in A1 and ends in anterior temporal sulcus 

Auditory ‘WHERE’ pathway

pathway for object localization that starts in A1 and ends in posterior temporal cortex and parietal cortex

Taste Pathway

pathways where axons leave tongue on CN VII, IX, X before synapsing on nucleus of brainstem, which send axons to VPM of thalamus to gustatory cortex

Corticospinal Tract

main movement generation pathway that originates in primary motor cortex and synapses on lower motor neurons in spinal cord + brainstem; for complex directed volitional movements

Colliculospinal Tract

pathway for reflexive, orienting postural movements of head/neck, originating in superior colliculus where neurons synapse on lower motor neurons in cervical spinal cord

Vestibulospinal Tract 

where vestibular hair cells send information to vestibular nuclei in brainstem for CN VIII neurons to synapse on lower motor neurons in spinal cord