Answer:
1. The nerve pathways always on the same ipsilateral side correspond to the ascending tracts.
2. The “Grand Central Station“ for sensory information in the brain is the Thalamus.
Explanation:
1. Ascending tracts corresponds to the pathways that conduct sensation from the periphery to the brain
Specifically the lemniscal pathway -which runs along the dorsal root of the spinal nerve- is responsible for conducting information about touch and proprioception, and its primary axon remains on the same side (ipsilateral) as the region of the body to which it innervate.
2. Thalamus is a 30 mm long structure made up of neural nuclei and nerve fibers, forming part of the diencephalon, and is located in the center of the brain, just above the hypothalamus.
All sensory information from the periphery of the body reaches the thalamus and is processed before continuing on to the brain, which is why it is considered the Grand Central Station of the nervous system. Additionally, the Thalamus is related to the limbic system and the processing of emotions.
