Abstract
Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the trigeminal nucleus and the thalamus and reviews other brainstem areas involved in nociception. It describes trigeminal sensory brainstem nuclear complex (TBNC) as the major relay nucleus for sensory information from the craniofacial region. There are various other nuclei in the brainstem that receive nociceptive information from the body and head via the spinal cord and trigeminal nucleus. Some of these are involved in the relay of nociceptive information to higher levels, but others are important in autonomic regulation, craniofacial muscle reflexes, and in descending modulation of nociceptive information. The chapter reviews that the major recipient of ascending nociceptive information from the spinal cord and trigeminal nucleus is the thalamus, which processes and relays this information to several cortical sites. It also focuses on the main thalamic projection related to pain and temperature perception arising from the nociceptive and thermoreceptive neurons in the MDH and is equivalent to the spinothalamic tract (STT). This crossed trigeminothalamic tract (TTT) joins the contralateral STT. Its terminations in the thalamus are described as well in the chapter.
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