All parts of the brain › Pathways › Vestibulospinal tract

Where does the vestibulospinal tract run?

It runs from the vestibular nuclei, where the pons meets the medulla, down into the spinal cord as two tracts: the lateral one from Deiters' nucleus to the antigravity muscles of the legs, the medial one to the neck. It keeps the body upright and the head steady. [1][2]

A tract has no shape of its own in this atlas; lit: the parts it runs through, in order.

The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The steps below still say where the vestibulospinal tract runs, in order.

Lit: the three parts the tracts run through, from the pons down to the spinal cord.

Route Slice

The brain starts seen from the left, a little from the front and below, where the brainstem runs down to the spinal cord. Step through lights one step at a time, about 1.2 s each, top to bottom; tap a step below to light it. The lit step is in the bright highlight colour, the steps before it stay lit in a paler tint of it and the steps still ahead are grey. Drag to turn, pinch or scroll to zoom.

The tracts and the vestibular nuclei are not drawn: the first two steps light the whole pons and medulla that hold the nuclei, the last the top of the spinal cord, drawn as its thin central canal. [3][1]

The route, in 3 steps

Signals about the tilt and movement of the head arrive from the inner ear through the vestibulocochlear nerve at the vestibular nuclei on the floor of the fourth ventricle. The lateral tract starts in the lateral vestibular nucleus (Deiters' nucleus), which reaches from the pontomedullary junction up to the level of the abducens nucleus in the pons. Not a separate shape in this atlas; lit: the part that holds it, the pons. [1][2] Where is the pons?
The medial tract starts a little lower, in the medial vestibular nucleus (Schwalbe's nucleus), which runs from the lower pons down to the upper end of the inferior olive in the medulla; its fibres join the medial longitudinal fasciculus on both sides. Not a separate shape in this atlas; lit: the part that holds it, the medulla oblongata. [1][2] Where is the medulla oblongata?
The lateral tract runs uncrossed down the front of the lateral funiculus along the whole length of the cord, exciting, through interneurons, the extensor muscles of the legs that hold the body up against gravity. The medial tract runs in the anterior funiculus only as far as the neck segments, to the muscles that hold the head. [1] Where is the spinal cord?

More about the vestibulospinal tract

Other names: lateral vestibulospinal tract, medial vestibulospinal tract [1]

An example from the source: when the head tilts to one side, signals run down both tracts, and the spinal cord answers with extensor action in the neck muscles on the side the head bends to and flexor action on the other side, bringing the head back. [1]
It is part of the extrapyramidal system, and, by function, of the medial motor pathway (with the tectospinal and reticulospinal tracts) that controls the trunk and the upper parts of the limbs rather than the hands. [1][4]
The vestibular nuclei do more than drive this tract: they also send fibres up the medial longitudinal fasciculus to the nuclei that move the eyes, and through the inferior cerebellar peduncle to the cerebellum. [2][1]
It works beside the corticospinal tract for voluntary movement and the rubrospinal tract from the red nucleus, which favours the arms. [4][5]

Balance uses more than this one tract. Every part, lit together with its role: What part of the brain controls balance?

Sources

Facts describe anatomy and normal function only. The 3D model is the adult male BodyParts3D brain (credits and licence); it has no shape for tracts, so a pathway is shown by the parts it runs through.