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Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways

Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways

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...

Pain

Pain

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...

Nociception

Nociception

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.

Somatosensation

Somatosensation

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.

Blood and Nerve Supply to the Bones

Blood and Nerve Supply to the Bones

Bones are dynamic organs that require a rich supply of oxygen and nutrients. Around 5% to 10% of the cardiac output supplies blood to the bones. A typical long bone has three main sources: the nutrient artery, the metaphyseal and epiphyseal arteries, and the periosteal arteries.
Nutrient Artery
The nutrient artery is the main blood vessel that enters the diaphysis via the nutrient foramen. While most long bones have only one nutrient foramen, large bones, such as the femur, may have two. This...

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

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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Author Spotlight: Quantifying Pain Experience – An Illustrative Approach Using the Pain Body Diagram

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Published on: July 7, 2023

A Summary of Pain Locations and Neuropathic Patterns Extracted Automatically from Patient Self-Reported Sensation

Andrew Bishara^1,2, Elisabetta de Rinaldis^3,4, Trisha F Hue⁵

¹Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

|September 27, 2025

Summary

This study developed an automated method to digitize pain drawings, creating heat maps for chronic low-back pain (LBP). This technology aids in understanding pain distribution for better LBP management.

Keywords:

automated image processing body-map digitization chronic low back pain digital health spatial pain phenotyping

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Last Updated: Jan 16, 2026

Author Spotlight: Quantifying Pain Experience – An Illustrative Approach Using the Pain Body Diagram

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Multi-Modal Signals for Analyzing Pain Responses to Thermal and Electrical Stimuli

Multi-Modal Signals for Analyzing Pain Responses to Thermal and Electrical Stimuli

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A Protocol of Manual Tests to Measure Sensation and Pain in Humans

A Protocol of Manual Tests to Measure Sensation and Pain in Humans

Published on: December 19, 2016

Area of Science:

Biomedical Engineering
Pain Medicine
Digital Health

Background:

Chronic low-back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of global disability.
Current pain assessment methods often oversimplify LBP's complex nature.
Manual digitization of pain drawings is time-consuming and inconsistent for large-scale studies.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and validate an automated Python pipeline for digitizing paper pain drawings.
To convert patient-drawn pain maps into machine-readable data and heat maps.
To enable spatially informed analysis and precision management of chronic LBP.

Main Methods:

A Python pipeline processed scanned paper pain drawings from 332 adults.
Image processing techniques including PDF rasterization, image registration (ORB, RANSAC, OpenCV), and edge detection were employed.
Binary masks for pain, numbness, and pins-and-needles were generated, normalized, and visualized as heat maps.

Main Results:

The automated workflow successfully digitized pain drawings from 332 participants.
Generated heat maps identified known LBP areas (lumbar, gluteal) and less recognized zones (lateral hip, lower abdomen).
Analysis revealed broader leg pain distribution in neuropathic-leaning pain patterns.

Conclusions:

An automated workflow effectively transforms manual pain drawings into digital heat maps at scale.
This approach provides a practical foundation for spatially detailed, precision management of chronic LBP.
The digitized data facilitates intuitive visualization of symptom overlap and future large-scale data analysis.