Name two major ascending sensory tracts and the modalities they carry.

• A. Dorsal columns: pain and temperature; Spinothalamic: fine touch, proprioception
• B. Dorsal columns: fine touch, vibration, proprioception; Spinothalamic: pain, temperature, crude touch
• C. Dorsal columns: motor control; Spinothalamic: balance
• D. Dorsal columns: hearing; Spinothalamic: vision

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is which senses travel in which major ascending pathways. The dorsal (posterior) columns carry discriminative, fine touch, vibration, and proprioception—information about exactly where something touched you and your body’s position in space. The spinothalamic tract, part of the anterolateral system, carries pain, temperature, and crude touch from the body to the brain.

This pairing matches the modalities as: dorsal columns with fine touch, vibration, and proprioception; spinothalamic with pain, temperature, and crude touch. The other options mix up these modalities (pain and temperature aren’t carried by the dorsal columns; fine touch and proprioception aren’t carried by the spinothalamic; and the other descriptors aren’t correct for these tracts).