Nerve Fiber - Central Nerve Fibers

Central Nerve Fibers

In the central nervous system, nerve fibers differ in terms of size, conduction velocity, and presence or lack of myelin. For example, the olfactory nerve fibers are short and without myelin, but the optic nerve fibers are myelinated (the olfactory and optic nerves are considered as a parts of the CNS, while other cranial nerves are a component of the PNS). A bundle of nerve fibers constitutes a tract in the central nervous system. The pyramidal tract and extrapyramidal tracts have long nerve fibers that descend from the brain to the spinal cord. These fibers have an important role in motor control, and are known as descending tracts. There are other bundles of nerve fibers in the CNS that are called ascending tracts.These carry sensory information from the periphery to the different areas of the brain (such as the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and brain stem).