Notes

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A collection of fragments of understanding in the pursuit of deeper questions.

The Trigeminal System

  • It is dedicated to the brain and the neck.
  • Conveys somatosensory input from the face.
  • Large-diameter myelinated axons of the trigeminal ganglion conveying discriminative touch information terminate in the principal trigeminal nucleus.
  • The axons of these cells then cross the midline, join the medial lemniscus, and terminate in the medial division of the Ventro-Posterior Nucleus (VPM).
  • Small diameter lightly-myelinated and unmyelinated axons of the trigeminal ganglion conveying thermal and nociceptor information descend in the spinal trigeminal tract and terminate in the spinal trigeminal nucleus.
  • The axons of these cells then project to VPM and to the posterior and intralaminar thalamic nuclei (i.e., rather like the anterolateral system).
  • Hence, we have a separation again of mechanoreceptors from thermoreceptors.