Tap a field of the cut spinal cord to read its tract, then name all twelve.
Spinal Cord Tracts Diagram
Name Date
Tap any tract to read, rename or leave it out
1 of 12
More options
Write the name of each numbered tract.Answer key
Lateral corticospinal tract
Anterior corticospinal tract
Rubrospinal tract
Reticulospinal tract
Vestibulospinal tract
Tectospinal tract
Fasciculus gracilis
Fasciculus cuneatus
Lateral spinothalamic tract
Anterior spinothalamic tract
Posterior spinocerebellar tract
Anterior spinocerebellar tract
Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.
Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a tract is answered.
Lateral corticospinal tractThe main pathway for voluntary movement of the limbs. Its fibers cross to the other side in the medulla.
Anterior corticospinal tractThe part of the corticospinal tract that stays uncrossed in the medulla. It lies beside the fissure at the front.
Rubrospinal tractA tract that starts in the midbrain's red nucleus. It runs just in front of the lateral corticospinal tract.
Reticulospinal tractA tract from the reticular formation of the brainstem. It acts on posture and muscle tone.
Vestibulospinal tractA tract from the vestibular nuclei, for balance and posture.
Tectospinal tractA tract from the midbrain's superior colliculus. Most of its fibers end in the neck part of the cord.
Sensory (ascending) 6
Fasciculus gracilisThe inner part of the posterior column, beside the midline. It carries fine touch and position sense from the lower body.
Fasciculus cuneatusThe outer part of the posterior column. It carries fine touch and position sense from the upper body.
Lateral spinothalamic tractA tract to the thalamus for pain and temperature.
Anterior spinothalamic tractA tract to the thalamus for crude touch and pressure.
Posterior spinocerebellar tractA band at the edge of the cord, toward the back. It carries position sense from muscles to cerebellum.
Anterior spinocerebellar tractA band at the edge of the cord, toward the front. It also carries position sense to the cerebellum.
How this list was compiled: Every name and place checked on 2026-10-01 in at least two of these. (1) Henry Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body (1918), The Spinal Cord or Medulla Spinalis, https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/anatomy-of-the-human-body/3-the-spinal-cord-or-medulla-spinalis/. (2) Neuroscience Online, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Section 2, Chapter 3 and Section 3, Chapter 2, https://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/m/s2/chapter03.html and https://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/m/s3/chapter02.html. (3) TeachMeAnatomy, The Ascending Tracts and The Descending Tracts, https://teachmeanatomy.info/neuroanatomy/pathways/ascending-tracts-sensory/ and https://teachmeanatomy.info/neuroanatomy/pathways/descending-tracts-motor/. (4) Wikipedia, English edition, Spinal cord, Spinothalamic tract, Spinocerebellar tracts, Rubrospinal tract, Tectospinal tract, Vestibulospinal tract and Pyramidal tracts, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_cord. Detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work
How it works
One cross-section of the spinal cord, back at the top. The left half shows the motor pathways, which descend from the brain; the right half shows the sensory pathways, which ascend. In a real cord each runs on both sides.
Read the full guide
Motor on the left, sensory on the right
Numbers 1 and 2 are the corticospinal tracts: the large lateral one at the side and the thin anterior one beside the front fissure. Numbers 3 to 6 start in the brainstem: the rubrospinal tract in front of number 1, then the reticulospinal, vestibulospinal and tectospinal tracts at the front. On the right, 7 and 8 are the two wedges of the posterior column, the fasciculus gracilis and the fasciculus cuneatus. Numbers 9 and 10 are the lateral and anterior spinothalamic tracts, and 11 and 12 are the posterior and anterior spinocerebellar tracts along the edge.
A tract’s name gives its start and its end: corticospinal runs from cortex to spinal cord, spinothalamic from cord to thalamus.
Gracilis is beside the midline and serves the lower body; cuneatus is outside it and serves the upper body.
Questions and answers
Which tracts are the motor pathways in the spinal cord?
The descending ones: the lateral and anterior corticospinal tracts from the cerebral cortex, and the rubrospinal, reticulospinal, vestibulospinal and tectospinal tracts from the brainstem. They are numbers 1 to 6, in the left half of the drawing.
Which tracts are the sensory pathways?
The ascending ones: the fasciculus gracilis and fasciculus cuneatus of the posterior column, the lateral and anterior spinothalamic tracts, and the posterior and anterior spinocerebellar tracts. They are numbers 7 to 12, in the right half.
What is the difference between the two spinothalamic tracts?
The lateral spinothalamic tract carries pain and temperature. The anterior spinothalamic tract carries crude touch and pressure. Both cross to the other side of the cord and go up to the thalamus.
Is this the art-labeling activity on the ascending and descending tracts of the spinal cord?
No. That is a publisher’s homework title, like the ones that say to drag the labels to identify sensory pathways. This drawing is our own, so its layout differs, and it is no answer key. The tract names are the standard ones.