Most sensory information is conveyed from the DCN to the somatosensory cortex through a prominent projection to the somatosensory ventral posterolateral thalamus (VPL) for the conscious perception of touch.
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From the DCN, mechanosensory information is relayed to multiple targets in higher brain regions. Aβ-LTMR signals are rapidly conveyed from the periphery, and their axons ascend the dorsal column of the spinal cord and directly contact the DCN of the brainstem.
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Similar content being viewed by othersįast-conducting LTMRs (Aβ-LTMRs) detect light mechanical forces acting on the skin and mediate discriminative touch 8, 9, 10, 11. Thus, LTMR and PSDC subdivisions of the dorsal column encode different tactile features and differentially converge in the DCN to generate specific ascending sensory processing streams. Different DCN neuron subtypes have specialized responses that are generated by distinct combinations of LTMR and PSDC inputs. LTMR and PSDC signals topographically realign in the DCN to preserve precise spatial detail. Conversely, PSDC neurons primarily encode touch onset and the intensity of sustained contact into the high-force range. Here we show that direct LTMR input to the DCN conveys vibrotactile stimuli with high temporal precision. The significance of PSDC neurons and their contributions to the coding of touch have remained unclear since their discovery. However, postsynaptic dorsal column (PSDC) neurons within the spinal cord dorsal horn also collect mechanoreceptor signals and form a second major input to the DCN 5, 6, 7. Models of somatosensation emphasize that fast-conducting low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs) innervating the skin drive the DCN 3, 4. Discriminative touch of the body depends on signals conveyed from peripheral mechanoreceptors to the brain through the spinal cord dorsal column and its brainstem target, the dorsal column nuclei (DCN) 1, 2. The somatosensory system decodes a range of tactile stimuli to generate a coherent sense of touch.