What is medial lemniscus pathway?

What is medial lemniscus pathway?

The dorsal column–medial lemniscus pathway (DCML) (also known as the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway, PCML) is a sensory pathway of the central nervous system that conveys sensations of fine touch, vibration, two-point discrimination, and proprioception (position) from the skin and joints.

What does medial lemniscus control?

The primary function of the medial lemniscus is as a second-order neuron of the dorsal column-medial lemniscus pathway (DCML) is to transport the sensory spinothalamic information of conscious proprioception, vibration, fine touch, and 2-point discrimination of skin and joints of the body and head; from the caudal …

What passes through the medial lemniscus?

It is part of the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway, which transmits touch, vibration sense, as well as the pathway for proprioception. The medial lemniscus carries axons from most of the body and synapses in the ventral posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus, at the level of the mamillary bodies.

What are the three sensory pathways?

A somatosensory pathway will typically consist of three neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary.

  • In the periphery, the primary neuron is the sensory receptor that detects sensory stimuli like touch or temperature.
  • The secondary neuron acts as a relay and is located in either the spinal cord or the brainstem.

What is the role of lateral lemniscus?

Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy The lateral lemniscus is a tract of axons in the brainstem that carries information about sound from the cochlear nucleus to various brainstem nuclei and ultimately the contralateral inferior colliculus of the midbrain.

What type of information does the dorsal column-medial Lemniscal pathway carry?

The dorsal column-medial lemniscus pathway carries the majority of information from the mechanoreceptors that mediate tactile discrimination and proprioception (Figure 9.6); the spinothalamic (anterolateral) pathway mediates pain and temperature sensation and is described in Chapter 10.

Where does the spinothalamic tract cross?

The axons of the tract cells cross over (decussate) to the other side of the spinal cord via the anterior white commissure, and to the anterolateral corner of the spinal cord (hence the spinothalamic tract being part of the anterolateral system).

What are the sensory pathways?

Sensory pathways consist of the chain of neurons, from receptor organ to cerebral cortex, that are responsible for the perception of sensations. Most somatosensory pathways terminate in the parietal lobe of the cerebral cortex.

Is the medial lemniscus pathway ascending or descending?

Some of these tracts or pathways are ascending while the others are descending. Of the ascending tracts is a group called medial lemniscus pathway and this group originates from within the posterior column of the spinal cord.

Where are the dorsal column and medial lemniscus located?

Also known as the posterior column – medial lemniscus pathway, it consists of two parts. The dorsal (posterior) column, which runs from the spinal cord to the medulla, and the medial lemniscus which runs as a continuation of the dorsal column, from the medulla to the cortex.

Where do neurones synapse in the medial lemniscus?

After synapsing in the dorsal column (or the analogous trigeminal) nuclei, the secondary neurones cross in the medulla and ascend as the medial lemniscus to the thalamus, where they synapse in the ventroposterior (VP) nucleus. In the VP nucleus, the head is represented medially and the rest of the body laterally.

Where does the trigeminal lemniscus transmit sensory information?

An analogous trigeminal nerve pathway, the trigeminal lemniscus, serving the face, transmits sensory information to the main sensory trigeminal nucleus in the pons. Receptors associated with these pathways have small RFs and do not show much convergence.