THE NERVE GAME

Trace the signal. Brain to muscle.

Every movement you make travels a specific route: cortex, tract, cord level, nerve root, peripheral nerve, muscle. Play through those routes one link at a time — then test yourself on dermatomes, reflexes, cranial nerves, and where a lesion has to be to explain the symptoms.

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THE EXPLORER

Tap any nerve. See exactly what stops working.

Each one lists what you lose in motion, what you lose in sensation, which reflex changes, what usually causes it, and when it needs urgent attention.

QUICK REFERENCE

The map, if you want to study first.

These are the patterns the game tests. Clinicians use them daily to decide which level a problem is coming from.

Dermatomes — where you feel it

C5Lateral shoulder, over the deltoid
C6Thumb and lateral forearm
C7Middle finger
C8Little finger, medial forearm
T4Nipple line
T10Umbilicus
L3Medial knee
L4Medial leg and medial malleolus
L5Dorsum of foot, web of great toe
S1Lateral foot, little toe, heel

Myotomes — what it moves

C5Shoulder abduction
C6Elbow flexion, wrist extension
C7Elbow extension, wrist flexion
C8Finger flexion
T1Finger abduction and adduction
L2Hip flexion
L3Knee extension
L4Ankle dorsiflexion
L5Great toe extension
S1Ankle plantarflexion and eversion

Reflexes — the level they test

BicepsC5 (with C6)
Brachiorad.C6
TricepsC7
PatellarL4 (L2–L4)
AchillesS1
BabinskiUpper motor neuron sign when present in adults
HoffmanSuggests cervical cord involvement

The long tracts

Cortico-
spinal
Voluntary movement. Crosses in the medulla, so one side of the brain drives the opposite side of the body.
Dorsal
column
Fine touch, vibration, joint position. Ascends on the same side, crosses in the medulla.
Spino-
thalamic
Pain and temperature. Crosses within a segment or two of entering the cord.
Spino-
cerebellar
Unconscious position sense to the cerebellum for coordination.

This is the map we read on every patient.

When numbness follows a dermatome, when one reflex is missing, when a single muscle is weak — the pattern tells us the level. That is what a proper neurological exam is for, and it is where every care plan here begins.

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