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Glite Dictionary
corticospinal

corticospinal

1 7.9
Relating to the nerve fibers that connect the outer layer of the brain to the spinal cord
  • adjective
  • /ˌkɔːrtɪkoʊˈspaɪnəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : corticoespinal
  • Understanding the role of corticospinal nerves is crucial for spinal cord injury rehabilitation.

Examples

  • And those project out to rubro and cerebral, rubrospinal and and corticospinal pathways.

  • The corticospinal fibers transmit signals from the brain to the muscles for movement.

  • And then you do this, you eliminate all those corticospinal connections.

  • And then we, I show here the position of those corticospinal axons.

  • Damage to the corticospinal pathways can result in loss of motor control.

Compounds

corticospinal tract
  • Specialized
1 7.6

A bundle of nerve fibers that carries movement signals from the brain to the spinal cord

Surface Forms

corticospinal positive

Morphology

corticospinal = cortex + spinal (semi-transparent) = cortico + spinal

The meaning combining 'cortex' and 'spinal' is clear in technical contexts, but 'cortico-' is a medical combining form that may be unfamiliar to average learners.

Etymology

Corticospinal comes from two parts: cortico- from cortex, which means 'bark' and is used for the brain's outer layer, and spinal from spine, meaning 'backbone'. So corticospinal describes the nerve fibers that run from the brain's outer layer down to the spine.