Central Pathway for Cutaneous Impulses in the Cat

Abstract

Spinal pathways involved in the transmission of fast cutaneous impulses from the foreleg to the sensory cortex were studied by oscillographic methods. By means of acute cord incisions it was established that in addition to the dorsal column another ipsilateral pathway is available for such impulses. The course of this pathway coincides with that of the dorsal spinocerebellar tract up to the first two cervical segments. At this level, following a relay in the lateral cervical nucleus, a crossing to the opposite ventral funiculus occurs. The overlapping of this pathway with other ascending systems of similar course is discussed.