Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Spinoparabrachial Tract

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Pain

Synonyms

Part of the spinoreticular tract

Definition

Neurons in the spinal cord, and their axons that project and terminate in the parabrachial nuclei of the brain. Many of these neurons are found in the most superficial regions of the dorsal horn (Rexed’s lamina 1) and respond best to nociceptive inputs (Bester et al. 2000; Hylden et al. 1985; Light et al. 1993). The parabrachial nuclei are at the junction between the midbrain and the pons and are found immediately adjacent to the brachium conjuntivum (the superior cerebellar peduncle) as it ascends from the pons, through the midbrain. The function of these neurons in the perception of pain is unknown (for more information on the function of this pathway see parabrachial hypothalamic and amydaloid projections and Bernard and Besson 1990).

Characteristics

Nociceptive neurons (neurons capable of encoding information discriminating between tissue damaging and non-damaging stimuli) are concentrated in the most superficial layers of the...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 1,250.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Bernard JF, Besson JM (1990)The spino(trigemino)pontoamygdaloid pathway: electrophysiological evidence for an involvement in pain processes. J Neurophysiol 63:473–490

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bester H, Matsumoto N, Besson JM et al. (1997) Further evidence for the involvement of the spinoparabrachial pathway in nociceptive processes: a c-Fos study in the rat. J Comp Neurol 383:439–458

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bester H, Chapman V, Besson JM et al. (2000) Physiological properties of the lamina I spinoparabrachial neurons in the rat. J Neurophysiol 83:2239–2259

    Google Scholar 

  4. Blomqvist A, Ma W, Berkley KJ (1989) Spinal input to the parabrachial nucleus in the cat. Brain Res. 480:29–36

    Google Scholar 

  5. Buritova J, Besson JM, Bernard JF (1998) Involvement of the spinoparabrachial pathway in inflammatory nociceptive processes: a c-Fos protein study in the awake rat. J Comp Neurol 397:10–28

    Google Scholar 

  6. Cechetto DF, Standaert DG, Saper CB (1985) Spinal and trigeminal dorsal horn projections to the parabrachial nucleus in the rat. J Comp Neurol 240:153–160

    Google Scholar 

  7. Craig AD (1995) Distribution of brainstem projections from spinal lamina I neurons in the cat and the monkey. J Comp Neurol 361:225–428

    Google Scholar 

  8. Hylden JL, Hayashi H, Bennett GJ et al. (1985) Spinal lamina I neurons projecting to the parabrachial area of the cat midbrain. Brain Res 336:195–198

    Google Scholar 

  9. Kitamura T, Yamada J, Sato H et al. (1993) Cells of origin of the spinoparabrachial fibers in the rat: a study with fast blue and WGA-HRP. J Comp Neurol 328:449–461

    Google Scholar 

  10. Light AR, Sedivec MJ, Casale EJ et al. (1993) Physiological and morphological characteristics of spinal neurons projecting to the parabrachial region of the cat. Somatosens Mot Res 10:309–325

    Google Scholar 

  11. Menetrey D, De Pommery J (1991) Origins of spinal ascending pathways that reach central areas involved in visceroception and visceronociception in the rat. Eur J Neurosci 3:249–259

    Google Scholar 

  12. Nahin RL, Hylden JL, Humphrey E (1992) Demonstration of dynorphin A 1-8 immunoreactive axons contacting spinal cord projection neurons in a rat model of peripheral inflammation and hyperalgesia. Pain 51:135–143

    Google Scholar 

  13. Panneton WM, Burton H (1985) Projections from the paratrigeminal nucleus and the medullary and spinal dorsal horns to the peribrachial area in the cat. Neuroscience 15:779–797

    Google Scholar 

  14. Saper CB (1995) The spinoparabrachial pathway: shedding new light on an old path. J Comp Neurol 353:477–479.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Slugg RM, Light AR (1994) Spinal cord and trigeminal projections to the pontine parabrachial region in the rat as demonstrated with Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin. J Comp Neurol 339:49–61

    Google Scholar 

  16. Wall PD, Bery J, Saade N (1988) Effects of lesions to rat spinal cord lamina I cell projection pathways on reactions to acute and chronic noxious stimuli. Pain 35:327–339

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Alan R. Light

Authors
  1. Alan R. Light
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physiological Institute, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Robert F. Schmidt

  2. Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA

    William D. Willis

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Light, A. (2007). Spinoparabrachial Tract. In: Schmidt, R., Willis, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_4160

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_4160

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43957-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-29805-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation