The ventral posterolateral nucleus (VPL) is a nucleus of the

thalamus The thalamus (from Greek θάλαμος, "chamber") is a large mass of gray matter located in the dorsal part of the diencephalon (a division of the forebrain). Nerve fibers project out of the thalamus to the cerebral cortex in all directions, ...

. Together with the

ventral posteromedial nucleus The ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM) is a nucleus of the thalamus The thalamus (from Greek θάλαμος, "chamber") is a large mass of gray matter located in the dorsal part of the diencephalon (a division of the forebrain). Nerve f ...

(VPM),

ventral posterior inferior nucleus Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

(VPI) and ventromedial posterior nucleus (VMpo), it constitutes the

ventral posterior nucleus The ventral posterior nucleus is the somato-sensory relay nucleus in thalamus of the brain. Input and output The ventral posterior nucleus receives neuronal input from the medial lemniscus, spinothalamic tracts, and trigeminothalamic tract. It p ...

. There is uncertainty in the location of VMpo, as determined by spinothalamic tract (STT) terminations and staining for calcium-binding proteins, and several authorities do not consider its existence as being proved. The nucleus ventralis posterior lateralis pars oralis (VPLo) is a subdivision of the ventral posterolateral thalamus which has substantial projections to the motor cortex.

Input and output

The VPL receives information from the

neospinothalamic tract Nociception (also nocioception, from Latin ''nocere'' 'to harm or hurt') is the sensory nervous system's process of encoding noxious stimuli. It deals with a series of events and processes required for an organism to receive a painful stimulus, co ...

and the

medial lemniscus In neuroanatomy, the medial lemniscus, also known as Reil's band or Reil's ribbon (for German anatomist Johann Christian Reil), is a large ascending bundle of heavily myelinated axons that decussate (cross) in the brainstem, specifically in the ...

of the

posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway Posterior may refer to: * Posterior (anatomy), the end of an organism opposite to its head ** Buttocks, as a euphemism * Posterior horn (disambiguation) * Posterior probability The posterior probability is a type of conditional probability that r ...

. It then projects this sensory information to Brodmann's Areas 3, 1 and 2 in the

postcentral gyrus In neuroanatomy, the postcentral gyrus is a prominent gyrus in the lateral parietal lobe of the human brain. It is the location of the primary somatosensory cortex, the main sensory receptive area for the somatosensory system, sense of touch. Lik ...

. Collectively, Brodmann areas 3, 1 and 2 make up the primary

somatosensory In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch (haptic perception), as well as temperature (thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It i ...

cortex of the brain.

Additional images

File:Territoriostalamo.svg, Thalamus File:Gray759.png, The sensory tract.

References

Thalamus {{Neuroanatomy-stub

Input and output

Additional images

See also

References