Spinal cord tracts and spinal cord syndromes
Where the corticospinal, dorsal column and spinothalamic tracts run and cross, how that produces the Brown-Séquard, central cord, anterior cord and posterior column syndromes, and how a sensory level and reflexes localise a cord lesion.
Tier 2Medical sciences concept
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- Three tracts explain almost every cord syndrome: lateral corticospinal (motor), dorsal columns (vibration, proprioception, fine touch) and spinothalamic (pain, temperature).
- Corticospinal and dorsal column fibres cross in the medulla. Spinothalamic fibres cross in the cord, near where they enter.
- So a cord lesion gives motor and vibration loss on one side and pain loss on the other. That split defines Brown-Séquard and is the commonest exam route.
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Sources
- Principles of Neural Science (6th ed.)McGraw Hill (Kandel, Koester, Mack, Siegelbaum, 2021), 2021
- Localization in Clinical Neurology (8th ed.)Wolters Kluwer (Brazis, Masdeu and Biller), 2022
- International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI), revised 2019American Spinal Injury Association, 2019
- Quencer RM, Bunge RP, Egnor M, et al. Acute traumatic central cord syndrome: MRI-pathological correlations. Neuroradiology 1992;34:85-94Neuroradiology, 1992
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
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