pyramidal tract
- noun
- /ˈpɪrəmɪdəl træk/
- Specialized
:
tracto piramidal
- The pyramidal tract carries signals from the brain to the spinal cord, enabling voluntary movement.
Examples
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So humans after a pyramidal tract section, you know, lose even their spinal reflexes for a while.
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And then they become the pyramidal tract after passing through the ponds.
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The question is: "What are the pyramidal tracts?"
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Kent, the pyramidal tracts... ...are a complex of multisynaptic lower motor neurons... ...which interconnect the basal ganglia with the reticular formation.
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Damage to the pyramidal tract can result in weakness or loss of control in the affected muscles.
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Understanding the role of the pyramidal tract is crucial for studying motor functions in neuroscience.
Synonyms
1
7.6
A bundle of nerve fibers that carries movement signals from the brain to the spinal cord
Nerves from the brain that control movements you make on purpose
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituent meanings 'pyramidal' (pyramid-shaped) and 'tract' (a pathway of nerve fibers) let a learner infer this is a specific nerve pathway associated with a pyramid-like structure, so a general sense is derivable. However, the exact, technical function — that it denotes the major motor fiber bundles from cortex through the brainstem to spinal motor neurons responsible for voluntary movement — requires medical knowledge and is not predictable from the parts alone, making the transparency partial.
Etymology
The noun pyramidal tract comes from pyramid-shaped groups of nerve fibers near the base of the brain; pyramidal points to the pyramid shape and tract means a bundle or 'road' of nerves. So the pyramidal tract is the main nerve 'road' that carries brain signals for 'voluntary movement' down to the spinal cord.