A descending motor pathway carries signals from more rostral neural centers toward brainstem or spinal circuits contributing to movement. Its effect depends on intervening interneurons and motor neurons. An anatomical projection is therefore not necessarily a direct command to one muscle.
The anterior horn is the ventral gray-matter region of the spinal cord, containing somatic motor neurons and associated circuitry. Its organization links spinal segments to muscle groups. It is distinct from the roots through which motor axons leave the cord.
A sensory pathway carrying information including pain and temperature; injury to crossing fibres in the central spinal cord can produce dissociated sensory loss.
