CORTICOSPINAL TRACT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does corticospinal tract mean? 

• CORTICOSPINAL TRACT (noun)
  The noun CORTICOSPINAL TRACT has 1 sense:

1. any of the important motor nerves on each side of the central nervous system that run from the sensorimotor areas of the cortex through the brainstem to motor neurons of the cranial nerve nuclei and the ventral root of the spinal cord

  Familiarity information: CORTICOSPINAL TRACT used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CORTICOSPINAL TRACT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of the important motor nerves on each side of the central nervous system that run from the sensorimotor areas of the cortex through the brainstem to motor neurons of the cranial nerve nuclei and the ventral root of the spinal cord

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

corticospinal tract; pyramidal motor system; pyramidal tract

Hypernyms ("corticospinal tract" is a kind of...):

efferent; efferent nerve; motor nerve (a nerve that conveys impulses toward or to muscles or glands)

Meronyms (parts of "corticospinal tract"):

basal ganglion (any of several masses of subcortical grey matter at the base of each cerebral hemisphere that seem to be involved in the regulation of voluntary movement)

Holonyms ("corticospinal tract" is a part of...):

central nervous system; CNS; systema nervosum centrale (the portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord)

 Context examples 

This allele, which encodes ephrin type-A receptor 4 protein, is involved in nervous system development and may play a role in axon guidance and corticospinal tract development.

(EPHA4 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

An oval shaped area within the corticospinal tract that runs the entire length of the spinal cord just medial to the posterior spinocerebellar tract and contains motor nerve fibers originating from the opposite cerebral hemisphere.

(Crossed Pyramidal Tract, NCI Thesaurus)