Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Rubrospinal tract
Introduction
Overview
Overview
The rubrospinal tract is a part of the nervous system. It is a part of the indirect extra-pyramidal tract
Function
Function
It is an alternative route for the mediation of voluntary movement. It is responsible for large muscle movement such as the arms and the legs as well as for fine motor control. It facilitates the extension and inhibits the flexion in the upper extremities.
It is small and rudimentary in humans. In some other primates, however, experiments have shown that over time, the rubrospinal tract can assume almost all the duties of the corticospinal tract when the corticospinal tract is lesioned.
Path
Path
In the midbrain, it originates in the red nucleus, crosses to the other side of the midbrain, and descends in the lateral part of the brainstem tegmentum.
In the spinal cord, it travels through the lateral funiculus of the spinal cord in the company with the lateral corticospinal tract.