What is the somatic pathway?
Somatic Reflex Arc. These are neural pathways that are responsible for the automatic response between a sensory and motor neuron. The sensory input generates a specific motor output. The simplest spinal reflex is mediated by a single synaptic process called the monosynaptic reflex.
The four medial motor systems are the anterior corticospinal tract, the vestibulospinal tract, the reticulospinal tract, and the tectospinal tract. These pathways control proximal axial and girdle muscles involved in postural tone, balance, orienting movements of the head and neck, and automatic gait-related movements.
n. A motor neuron forming a direct synapse with striated muscle fibers via a motor end plate.
One common example is the knee reflex: hitting the patellar tendon just below the knee cap with a reflex hammer leads to an automatic contraction of the quadriceps – which results in the lower leg kicking out.
Somatic motor neurons. Somatic motor neurons originate in the central nervous system, project their axons to skeletal muscles (such as the muscles of the limbs, abdominal, and intercostal muscles), which are involved in locomotion.
The somatic nervous system (SNS) is part of the peripheral nervous system, and is associated with activities traditionally thought of as conscious or voluntary, such as walking.
- Lateral pathways control both proximal and distal muscles and are responsible for most voluntary movements of arms and legs. ...
- Medial pathways control axial muscles and are responsible for posture, balance, and coarse control of axial and proximal muscles.
Answers to Chapter Review Questions
Answer: Sherrington called the lower motor neurons of the spinal cord the “final common pathway” that controls behavior. These motor neurons, also called the somatic motor neurons, directly command muscle contraction. They are the output of the motor system.
Motor pathways carry signals from the brain to skeletal muscle and smooth muscle such as those contained in glands. The system consists of upper and lower motor neurones.
Your somatic nervous system allows you to move and control muscles throughout your body. It also feeds information from four of your senses — smell, sound, taste and touch — into your brain.
Is a knee jerk autonomic or somatic?
The patellar (knee jerk) reflex is an example of a somatic reflex.
The somatic nervous system consists of nerves that go to the skin and muscles and is involved in conscious activities. The autonomic nervous system consists of nerves that connect the CNS to the visceral organs such as the heart, stomach, and intestines. It mediates unconscious activities.

Simply put, the somatic nervous system innervates skeletal muscle, whereas the ANS innervates glands, neurons of the gastrointestinal tract, and cardiac and smooth muscles of glandular tissue.
A somatic reflex is an involuntary response to a stimulus, such as pulling one's hand away after touching a hot stove. The nervous system is split into the central nervous system (i.e., the brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system (i.e., nervous system outside of the brain and spinal cord).
The primary function of the somatic nervous system is to connect the central nervous system to the body's muscles to control voluntary movements and reflex arcs.
so·mat·ic sō-ˈmat-ik, sə- : of, relating to, or affecting the body especially as distinguished from the germplasm : physical. : of, relating to, supplying, or involving skeletal muscles. the somatic nervous system. a somatic reflex.
They are commonly referred to as motor neurons due to their termination in skeletal muscle. Within the muscle fibers, they release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and are only excitatory that is result only in contraction of the muscle.
What is an example of the somatic nervous system? An example of the somatic nervous system is the cranial nerves that carry information from the brain to the head and neck region. The somatic nervous system controls conscious motor functions in this area.
Breathing and the nervous system
The control of breathing is balanced between the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system (somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system).
Neurons in the motor cortex, the region of the brain that controls voluntary movement, send their axons through the corticospinal tract to connect with motor neurons in the spinal cord.
What are the three main somatosensory pathways?
A somatosensory pathway will typically have three neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The cell bodies of the three neurons in a typical somatosensory pathway are located in the dorsal root ganglion, the spinal cord, and the thalamus.
Somatic sensory neuron pathways are a relay process. Without the signal being sent to the spinal cord and the brain, touching an object would yield no feeling. It is important to know that messages are sent along these pathways going both ways.
Your somatic nervous system is a subdivision of your peripheral nervous system that stretches throughout nearly every part of your body. The nerves in this system deliver information from your senses to your brain. They also carry commands from your brain to your muscles so you can move around.
The somatic nervous system plays a vital role in initiating and controlling the movements of your body. The system is responsible for nearly all voluntary muscle movements, as well as for processing sensory information that arrives via external stimuli, including hearing, touch, and sight.
The somatosensory system consists of the two main paired pathways that take somatosensory information up to the brain: the medial lemniscal or posterior pathway, and the spinothalamic or anterolateral pathway.
Motor pathways carry signals from the brain to skeletal muscle and smooth muscle such as those contained in glands. The system consists of upper and lower motor neurones.
- Dorsal Columns.
- Spinothalamic Tracts.
- Spinocervicothalamic Tracts.
- Dorsal Spinocerebellar Tract.
- Cuneo-cerebellar Tract.
- Ventral Spinocerebellar Tract.
Definitions of somatic sensory system. the faculty of bodily perception; sensory systems associated with the body; includes skin senses and proprioception and the internal organs.
Somatic senses ("soma" means body) detect touch, pain pressure, temperature, and tension on the skin and in internal organs. 4.
The somatic sensory system has two major components: a subsystem for the detection of mechanical stimuli (e.g., light touch, vibration, pressure, and cutaneous tension), and a subsystem for the detection of painful stimuli and temperature.
Which of the following muscles are controlled by the somatic nervous system?
Answer and Explanation: The somatic nervous system controls the skeletal muscle of the body and allows us to make voluntary movements. Skeletal muscle is the muscle that attaches to our bones and makes our limbs and other body parts move.
2-Minute Neuroscience: Divisions of the Nervous System - YouTube
The patellar (knee jerk) reflex is an example of a somatic reflex.