OMAR AL MASRI
Neuroanatomy - 2011;10(1):1-4
The corticospinal tract is arguably the most important descending tract in the central nervous system. It has been recognised since the seventeenth century, but an accurate description of its pathway in humans is still elusive. The advancement of studying methods including magnetic resonance modalities has lead to great leaps in our understanding of the pathway. It is evident that the tract has an extensive origin in the cerebral cortex, and follows a fairly straight and predictable course in the brain and spinal cord. Although it is asymmetric in most, the asymmetry itself is independent of hand-dominance. The tract modulates motor functions and its terminations therefore either synapse on lower motor neurons or interneurons.
