Sensory & Motor Lesions

• What does decorticate posturing indicate?

  Damage above the red nucleus
• What does decerebrate posturing indicate?

  Damage at or below the red nucleus
• What is the role of the tectospinal pathway?

  Controls head movements in response to visual stimuli
• What is the primary function of the rubrospinal pathway?

  Excites flexor activity and inhibits extensors
• Where do reticulospinal pathways originate from?

  Brain stem
• What do vestibulospinal pathways regulate?

  Muscle tone in posture and balance
• What is the characteristic of decorticate posturing?

  Involuntary flexion of upper extremities
• What is the characteristic of decerebrate posturing?

  Involuntary extension of upper extremities
• How do lesions affect posturing?

  Lesions above cause decorticate, below cause decerebrate
• What is the effect of a spinal cord stroke at T6?

  Damages the dorsal columns
• What happens when a slipped disc crushes the dorsal root at C7?

  Causes sensory deficits on the left side
• What is the outcome of a stroke damaging the blood supply to the pyramids of the medulla?

  Upper motor neurone signs affecting lower limbs
• What does a stroke affecting a branch of the anterior cerebral artery cause?

  Signs in the pre and post central gyrus