Diseases of the spinal cord.

  • Bramwell, Byrom, Sir, 1847-1931.
Date:
1882
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Diseases of the spinal cord. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    (reflex) movements in the muscular area to which the fibres of its anterior nerve root proceed. As a matter of fact, peripheral irritation applied to the body area of one segment often produces (reflex) movements in the muscular areas of other segments as well as in its own muscular area. This is owing to the free inter-communication between the nerve fibrils in the grey matter of the cord. The multipolar nerve cells of the anterior cornua probably constitute the centre of this reflex arc. The superficial reflexes are probably conducted by those fibres of the posterior root which pass directly into the posterior horn of grey matter; while deep reflex impulses are probably carried by those fibres which pass through the postero-external column, as is shown in fig. 25. Fig. 25. Diagrammatic representation of the reflex Junctions of the Spinal Segment. The left half segment is normal. The right half represents the early stage of locomotor ataxia, the position of the lesion being shaded dark. S, Skin from which sensory fibres pass through the common sensory motor nerve trunk, posterior root, and posterior horn of grey matter to the reflex centre (4). T, Tendon, muscle, and fascia, from which the sensory fibres pass which conduct the deep reflex movements. These fibres traverse the postero-external column. m, Muscle supplied by the anterior root of the left half segment. The dotted line passing from the crossed pj^ramidal tract in the lateral column represents the inhibitory fibre. The arrows show the course of the reflex impulse. On the right side the deep reflex movements are seen to be arrested by a lesion in the postero-external column.