The sensory information carried by the ascending

sensory axon collaterals is transferred to the cerebral

cortex via different relay stations.

In the case of touch, the first relay station is in the

medulla where the 2° order sensory neurons reside.
 The right cerebral
hemisphere receives
sensory information from
the left side of the body
(cf sensory decussation).

The cuneate nucleus of the

medulla contains the 2nd order
sensory neurons receiving
synaptic input from the primary
sensory afferents innervating
the superior part of the body
--For each somatosensory
submodality, the somatosensory
afferent axons, that relay information
from different portions of the body,
maintain an orderly relationship to
each other and form a neural map of
the body in their pattern of
termination at each synaptic relay.
This orderly distribution of inputs
from different portions of the body is
called somatotopy; it is maintained
throughout the entire ascending
somatosensory pathway.

Somatototopy is a general property

of the organization of sensory
systems

--The somatosensory informations

for each submodality (touch, pain,
proprioception) are transferred by
distinct spinal cord columns, are
processed via different parallel
pathways and arrive to different
regions of the cortex.
Touch and nociception sensory
information are transmitted to the
somatosensory cortex via different
pathways and are processes by
different cortical areas
12 pairs of cranial nerves (some sensory, some motor, some mixed)
provide the sensory and motor innervation for the head, neck and face

Trigeminal nerve
The sensory trigeminal
ganglion neurons
afferents carrying
touch information
make synapses onto
2° order neurons in the
principal trigeminal
nucleus.

The sensory trigeminal

ganglion neurons
afferents carrying
noxious information
make synapses onto
2° order neurons in the In the brainstem there are different sensory nuclei
spinal trigeminal (containing 2° order sensory neurons) and different motor
nucleus. nuclei (containing the soma of specific somatic or
autonomic motoneurons)
 Somatosensory cortex In the different relay nuclei
there is a preprocessing of
sensory information by local
neural circuits containing
principal (projection) neurons
and different types of
To thalamus
inhibitory interneurons.

Different types
of inhibition

Throughout each sensory system, from

the peripheral receptors to the cerebral
cortex, information about physical
stimuli is transformed in stages
according to computational rules that
reflect the functional properties of the
Relay nucleus neurons and their interconnections at
each stage.
To the spinal cord Afferent fiber
The ventral posterior lateral
nucleus of the thalamus
contains the 3rd order sensory
neurons receiving synaptic
input from the 2nd order sensory
neurons of the medulla.
The 3° order relay sensory The right cerebral
thalamic neurons make
hemisphere receives
synapses with neurons in the
primary somatosensory cortex sensory information from
the left side of the body.

For all sensory modalities

(except olfaction), the
thalamus is a key relay
station of transmission of
sensory information from
the periphery to the
primary sensory areas of
the cerebral cortex (i.e.
the areas where the first
cortical processing of the
sensory information
occurs).