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Related Concept Videos

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways01:28

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

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Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the...
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Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways01:29

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Somatic sensory or somatosensory pathways refer to the neural pathways that carry information related to touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception from the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints to the brain. These pathways involve several stages of processing and integration of sensory information.
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
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Nociception01:44

Nociception

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Nociception—the ability to feel pain—is essential for an organism’s survival and overall well-being. Noxious stimuli such as piercing pain from a sharp object, heat from an open flame, or contact with corrosive chemicals are first detected by sensory receptors, called nociceptors, located on nerve endings. Nociceptors express ion channels that convert noxious stimuli into electrical signals. When these signals reach the brain via sensory neurons, they are perceived as pain.
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Pain01:20

Pain

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Pain serves as a critical warning signal that alerts the body to potential or actual harm. When mechanical pressure on the skin is intense, such as from a sharp pinch, the sensation transitions from touch to pain. Similarly, extreme temperatures, like a hot pot handle, convert the sensation of heat into pain. Pain can also result from overstimulation of other senses, such as blinding light, loud noise, or the intense heat from habañero peppers. This ability to sense pain is essential for...
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Somatosensation01:33

Somatosensation

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The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
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Physiology of Smell and Olfactory Pathway01:20

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Humans detect odors with the help of specialized cells located in the upper part of the nasal cavity, called olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). ORNs possess hair-like structures called cilia, which are receptive to sensations from the inhaled air. When an odorant molecule binds to a specific receptor on the cell of the cilia, it leads to a series of events that ultimately cause the ORN to send electrical signals to the olfactory bulb in the brain through the olfactory nerves.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 22, 2026

Chronic Constriction of the Sciatic Nerve and Pain Hypersensitivity Testing in Rats
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A pathway from midcingulate cortex to posterior insula gates nociceptive hypersensitivity.

Linette Liqi Tan1, Patric Pelzer2, Céline Heinl1

  • 1Institute of Pharmacology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.

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|September 19, 2017
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Summary

The midcingulate cortex (MCC) gates pain hypersensitivity, not acute pain sensation. An MCC-insula pathway facilitates nociception via descending serotonergic pathways, impacting chronic pain development.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Pain Research
  • Sensory Processing

Background:

  • Cortical circuits for nociception and pain remain largely unidentified.
  • The cingulate cortex activates during pain, but its divisions' specific roles are unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the functional specificity of the midcingulate cortex (MCC) in pain processing.
  • To elucidate the circuitry underlying pain hypersensitivity and its temporal phases.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized mouse models to study neural circuits.
  • Investigated afferent pathways and descending projections involved in nociception.

Main Results:

  • The MCC does not mediate acute pain sensation or affect.
  • The MCC gates sensory hypersensitivity within a broad cortical and subcortical network.
  • Identified an MCC-posterior insula pathway that induces and maintains nociceptive hypersensitivity.
  • Demonstrated that this pathway involves descending serotonergic facilitatory projections to the spinal cord.

Conclusions:

  • The MCC plays a crucial role in gating pain hypersensitivity, not in acute pain perception.
  • The MCC-posterior insula pathway is a key circuit in facilitating nociception.
  • Findings offer insights into neuronal mechanisms underlying the transition from acute to chronic pain.