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Projections of the Superficial Dorsal Horn to the Midbrain and Thalamus

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Processing of Sensory Information in the Superficial Dorsal Horn of the Spinal Cord

Abstract

The mammalian somatosensory system includes a number of projection systems that originate in the spinal cord and terminate in the brainstem and thalamus (Willis and Coggeshall, 1978). Comparable pathways transmit information derived from activity of afferent fibers in the trigeminal and other cranial nerves. Two of the somatosensory tracts from the spinal cord synapse on neurons in the midbrain and thalamus, and so can be designated spinomesencephalic and spinothalamic tracts. However, this simple nomenclature is unlikely to reflect a simple organization, since the synaptic zones are in a number of different nuclei of diverse connectivity and the cells of origin are in all laminae of the spinal cord.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biomedical Institute and Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, 77550, USA

    William D. Willis Jr.

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  1. William D. Willis Jr.
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bristol Medical School, Bristol, UK

    F. Cervero

  2. National Institute of Dental Research National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    G. J. Bennett

  3. University of Bristol Medical School, Bristol, UK

    P. M. Headley

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© 1989 Plenum Press

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Willis, W.D. (1989). Projections of the Superficial Dorsal Horn to the Midbrain and Thalamus. In: Cervero, F., Bennett, G.J., Headley, P.M. (eds) Processing of Sensory Information in the Superficial Dorsal Horn of the Spinal Cord. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0825-6_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0825-6_24

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8101-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0825-6

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