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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

Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways

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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.
The dorsal...
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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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Sensory Functions of the Skin01:16

Sensory Functions of the Skin

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The skin is the largest organ of the human body and plays a crucial role in our sensory perception. It contains a vast network of sensory receptors that contribute to the skin's protective function by perceiving physical, biological, and environmental cues and generating relevant responses.
There are two main categories of receptors on the skin: capsulated and non-capsulated. The non-capsulated ones are mainly the pain receptors. The capsulated ones can be further categorized based on the...
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Spinal Cord: Information Processing01:10

Spinal Cord: Information Processing

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The spinal cord is an integral hub for motor and sensory information that enables the brain to communicate with the peripheral nervous system (PNS). This communication consists of relaying sensory data and transmission of motor commands.
Sensory Information Processing
Sensory information processing begins at the sensory receptors located in the skin and other tissues, which detect somatic sensory stimuli such as touch, temperature, or pain. These receptors function as catalysts, initiating...
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Tactile and Chemical Senses01:27

Tactile and Chemical Senses

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Tactile senses encompass touch, temperature, and pain, each mediated by specific receptors. Touch receptors detect mechanical energy or pressure against the skin. Sensory fibers from these receptors enter the spinal cord and relay information to the brain stem. Here, most fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain. The touch information then moves to the thalamus, which projects a map of the body's surface onto the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes in the cerebral cortex.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 22, 2026

Recording Network Activity in Spinal Nociceptive Circuits Using Microelectrode Arrays
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Recording Network Activity in Spinal Nociceptive Circuits Using Microelectrode Arrays

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Spinal Circuits for Touch, Pain, and Itch.

Stephanie C Koch1, David Acton1, Martyn Goulding1

  • 1Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037, USA;

Annual Review of Physiology
|September 30, 2017
PubMed
Summary

Researchers mapped mouse spinal cord circuits for touch, pain, and itch using genetic methods. Distinct interneuron cell types process these stimuli, with inhibitory neurons gating innocuous sensations to prevent pain and itch signaling.

Keywords:
dorsal horngate controlinterneuronmechanosensationnociceptionsomatosensory system

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Last Updated: Feb 22, 2026

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Somatosensory System Research
  • Spinal Cord Circuitry

Background:

  • The exteroceptive somatosensory system mediates responses to external stimuli, crucial for behavior and movement control.
  • Understanding spinal cord circuits is key to deciphering how touch, pain, and itch signals are processed.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review recent genetic studies in mice that map spinal cord circuits for cutaneous somatosensory modalities.
  • To elucidate the cellular and molecular basis of somatosensory information processing in the dorsal horn.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized genetic approaches in mouse models.
  • Focused on mapping spinal cord circuits involved in transmitting and gating somatosensory information.
  • Dissected the cellular composition of dorsal-horn networks.

Main Results:

  • Revealed a modular architecture for processing touch, pain, and itch.
  • Identified distinct, molecularly defined interneuron cell types for nociceptive, pruritic, and innocuous stimuli.
  • Discovered excitatory interneurons transmitting innocuous and painful touch, and inhibitory interneurons gating these pathways.

Conclusions:

  • Distinct interneuron populations underlie the processing of different somatosensory modalities.
  • Inhibitory interneurons play a critical role in gating innocuous stimuli, preventing unwanted pain and itch signaling.
  • Ongoing research is unraveling the computational logic of somatosensory transformation in the spinal cord.