Week 1: Pathways- Spinothalamic Flashcards
What’s another name for the spinothalamic tract?
Anterolateral pathway
What information does the spinothalamic tract process?
- Coarse/crude touch
- Temperature
- Discriminative pain
Where does decussation occur in the spinothalamic tract?
At the level of the neuron where the stimulus occurs
What kind of axons transmit coarse/crude touch?
Unmyelinated C fiber axons
Where does crude/coarse touch project?
Left insula
What kind of sensation is crude/coarse touch?
- Less localized
- Pleasurable touch/skin-to-skin
- Tickle/itch
What kind of nerves detect temperature?
- Specialized free nerve endings
- Small myelinated and unmyelinated neurons
What fibers specifically carry cooling info?
A-delta fibers
What fibers specifically carry heating info?
C fibers
What is pain?
- Sensation that triggers autonomic psychological, and somatic motor responses
- Composed of both perceptual and emotional experiences
What does pain sensation interpret stimuli as?
Stimuli is interpreted as indicating current or impending tissue damage
Components of pain
- Fast pain
- Slow pain
Fast pain
- Spinothalamic
- Rapidly conducted by large-diameter myelinated axons
Slow pain
- Spinolimbic
- Slowly conducted by smaller, less heavily myelinated axons
1st order neuron for fast, localized pain
- Small, myelinated A-delta fiber
- DRG ➙ dorsal horn