The tectospinal tract, another extrapyramidal tract, is responsible for the movements of the muscles within the neck.The rubrospinal tract is an extrapyramidal tract which is involved in the involuntary movements used to maintain and improve the body’s balance.These will usually be involved in subconscious motor functions such as posture and balance. The extrapyramidal tract is any pathway which is outside of the pyramid tract.The pyramid tract starts in the motor strip of the frontal lobe and the nerve impulses travel from here to the spinal cord. In the pyramid tract, the upper motor neurons will be responsible for controlling conscious movement.There are a few tracts, or pathways that upper motor neurons can travel, which serve different functions: pyramid, extrapyramidal, rubrospinal, tectospinal, and reticulospinal tracts. The upper motor neurons are located in either the motor cortex of the brain or the brainstem and are the main neurons which initiate voluntary movement throughout the body by connecting the cerebral cortex to the brain stem and spinal cord.
![dendrite labeled dendrite labeled](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2598/4117496025_8024f879d6_z.jpg)
These neurons form a variety of controlled and complex circuits throughout the body, controlling both voluntary and involuntary movements. Motor neurons can be divided into two types of neurons, depending on their function: upper motor neurons and lower motor neurons. The efferent fibers are the longest in the body, with one of the longest axons being able to stretch from the base of the spinal cord to the toes. Whilst the soma of the motor neurons is located in the CNS, the fibers, or axons, project out of the CNS to where it intends to cause motor action. Efferent fibers are the axons of the motor neurons responsible for this. There are approximately 500,000 motor neurons carrying information from the CNS to peripheral organs, muscles, and glands. This contrasts with afferent neurons, or sensory neurons, which carry information from sensory organs and tissues back to the CNS.
![dendrite labeled dendrite labeled](https://ruarrijoseph.com/images/obrazovanie/dendriti-eto-chto-takoe-stroenie-i-funkcii-dendridov_4.jpg)
Motor neurons are also known as efferent neurons, meaning they carry information from the CNS to muscles, and other peripheral systems such as organs and glands. Motor neurons are located in the central nervous system (CNS), specifically in the motor cortex, brainstem and spinal cord. Motor neurons are the most common structure for neurons. This means that they have a single axon and multiple dendrites. Motor neurons are known as multipolar neurons in terms of their structure.The axon works to transmit information it receives down its body to the dendrites at the end of the neuron. The axon is the long extension structure stemming from the soma.The dendrites use these structures to send and receive information from other neurons. The dendrites are the branch-like structures found at the ends of the neuron.The soma is the cell body where the nucleus lies, and which controls the cells and is also where proteins are produced to maintain the functioning of the neuron.
![dendrite labeled dendrite labeled](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/nervous-system-160211235825/95/nervous-system-9-638.jpg)
The structure of a motor neuron can be categorized into three components: the soma, the axon, and the dendrites.