Solitariospinal tract

Solitariospinal tract
Details
Innervates	Indirectly: thoracic diaphragm, intercostal muscles
Identifiers
Latin	tractus solitariospinalis
FMA	75695
Anatomical terminology [ edit on Wikidata]

The solitariospinal tract is a descending nerve tract that controls breathing by promoting the action of inspiratory muscles (note that exhalation is usually passive ^[1] ). It consists of a small group of axons originating in the solitary nucleus of the medulla oblongata, and projects to the motor neurons of the phrenic nerve (which innervate the thoracic diaphragm) and of motor neurons of the thoracic nerves (which innervate the intercostal muscles). In the spinal cord, it descends in the anterior funiculus (in MLF ) and (anterior portion of) lateral funiculus. Section of the anterior and lateral funiculi appears to abolish rhythmic breathing. ^[2]

A similar, complimenting pathway also arises from the nucleus retroambiguus in the ventral respiratory group, ^[3] but it additionally also projects to and promotes motor neurons of the muscles of expiration. ^[2]

References

1. Hall, John E.; Hall, Michael E.; Guyton, Arthur C. (2020). Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology (14th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier. p. 494. ISBN   9780323640046.
2. Standring, Susan (2020). Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice (42th ed.). New York: Elsevier. p. 437. ISBN   978-0-7020-7707-4. OCLC   1201341621.
3. Subramanian, HH; Holstege, G (25 March 2009). "The nucleus retroambiguus control of respiration". The Journal of Neuroscience. 29 (12): 3824–32. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0607-09.2009. PMC   6665025 . PMID   19321779.