Anterolateral system: Information from Answers.com

Anterolateral system
Latin	tractus anterolaterales

In the nervous system, the anterolateral system is an ascending pathway that conveys pain,^[1] temperature (protopathic sensation), and crude touch from the periphery to the brain. It comprises three main pathways:

Name	Destination	Function
spinothalamic tract (lateral and anterior)	thalamus	important in the localization of painful or thermal stimuli
spinoreticular tract	reticular formation	causes alertness and arousal in response to painful stimuli
spinotectal tract	tectum	orients the eyes and head towards the stimuli

References

^ "Chapter 25:Neural Mechanisms of Cardiac Pain: The Anterolateral System"". http://symptomresearch.nih.gov/chapter_25/sec3/crfs3pg1.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-26.

External links

at Dorland's Medical Dictionary

v • d • e Pain and nociception

Head and neck	Jaw and mouth (Odynophagia ) • Ear (otalgia, otitis media, otitis externa) • Eye (glaucoma) • Head (headache, migraine, tension headache, cluster headache, cerebral aneurysm, sinusitis, meningitis) • Neck (atypical myocardial infarction)

Thorax	Back (upper back, lower back, spinal disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, coccydynia) • Breast (perimenstrual, breast cancer) • Chest (myocardial infarction, gastroesophageal reflux disease, pancreatitis, hiatus hernia, aortic dissection, asymptomatic pulmonary embolism, Tietze's syndrome) • Shoulder (right side - cholecystitis)

Abdominal	Left and right upper quadrant (peptic ulcer disease, gastroenteritis, hepatitis, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, atypical myocardial infarction, abdominal aortic aneurysm, asymptomatic gastric cancer) • Left and right lower quadrant (appendicitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, ectopic pregnancy, endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, diverticulitis, urolithiasis, pyelonephritis, colorectal cancer)

Limbs	Arm (myocardial infarction, left arm) • Leg (deep vein thrombosis, peripheral artery occlusive disease, claudication, spinal disc herniation, sciatica)

Joints (arthralgia)	Small joints (osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosis, gout, pseudogout • Large joints (osteoarthritis, septic arthritis, hemarthrosis, osteonecrosis) • Back joints (ankylosing spondylitis, inflammatory bowel disease) • Other (psoriatic arthritis, Reiter's syndrome)

Musculoskeletal	Delayed onset muscle soreness, myalgia, physical trauma

Other/unspecified	cold pressor test, congenital insensitivity to pain, dolorimeter, HSAN (Type I, II congenital sensory neuropathy, III familial dysautonomia, IV congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis, V congenital insensitivity to pain with partial anhidrosis), neuralgia, pain asymbolia, pain disorder, paroxysmal extreme pain disorder • Allodynia, breakthrough pain, chronic pain, hyperalgesia, hypoalgesia, hyperpathia, phantom pain, referred pain

Related concepts	Anterolateral system, gate control theory of pain, pain management (anesthesia, cordotomy), pain scale, pain threshold, pain tolerance, posteromarginal nucleus, substance P, suffering, OPQRST

Brain and spinal cord: neural tracts and fasciculi

Sensory/ascending

PCML

1°: Pacinian corpuscle/Meissner's corpuscle → Gracile fasciculus/Cuneate fasciculus → Gracile nucleus/Cuneate nucleus

2°: → sensory decussation/arcuate fibers (Posterior external arcuate fibers, Internal arcuate fibers) → Medial lemniscus/Trigeminal lemniscus → Thalamus (VPL, VPM)

3°: → Posterior limb of internal capsule → Postcentral gyrus

Anterolateral/
pain

Fast/lateral	1° (Free nerve ending → A delta fiber) → 2° (Anterior white commissure → Lateral and Anterior Spinothalamic tract → Spinal lemniscus → VPL of Thalamus) → 3° (Postcentral gyrus) → 4° (Posterior parietal cortex) 2° (Spinotectal tract → Superior colliculus of Midbrain tectum)

Slow/medial	1° (Group C nerve fiber → Spinoreticular tract → Reticular formation) → 2° (MD of Thalamus) → 3° (Cingulate cortex)

Motor/descending

Pyramidal	flexion: Primary motor cortex → Posterior limb of internal capsule → Decussation of the pyramids → Corticospinal tract (Lateral, Anterior) → Neuromuscular junction

Extrapyramidal	flexion: Primary motor cortex → Genu of internal capsule → Corticobulbar tract → Facial motor nucleus → Facial muscles flexion: Red nucleus → Rubrospinal tract extension: Vestibulocerebellum → Vestibular nuclei → Vestibulospinal tract extension: Vestibulocerebellum → Reticular formation → Reticulospinal tract Midbrain tectum → Tectospinal tract → muscles of neck

Basal ganglia	direct: 1° (Motor cortex → Striatum) → 2° (GPi) → 3° (Lenticular fasciculus/Ansa lenticularis → Thalamic fasciculus → VL of Thalamus) → 4° (Thalamocortical radiations → Supplementary motor area) → 5° (Motor cortex) indirect: 1° (Motor cortex → Striatum) → 2° (GPe) → 3° (Subthalamic fasciculus → Subthalamic nucleus) → 4° (Subthalamic fasciculus → GPi) → 5° (Lenticular fasciculus/Ansa lenticularis → Thalamic fasciculus → VL of Thalamus) → 6° (Thalamocortical radiations → Supplementary motor area) → 7° (Motor cortex) nigrostriatal pathway: Pars compacta → Striatum

Bidirectional:
Spinocerebellar

Unconscious proprioception: Golgi tendon organ → Spinocerebellar (Dorsal/Posterior thoracic nucleus, Cuneocerebellar) → Cerebellum
Reflex arc: Ventral - Rostral

Brain only

Medial longitudinal fasciculus

Vestibular nucleus → Vestibulocerebellar tract → Cerebellum

Pontine nuclei → Pontocerebellar fibers → Deep cerebellar nuclei

Inferior olivary nucleus → Olivocerebellar tract → Cerebellar hemisphere

Dentate nucleus → Dentatothalamic tract → Thalamus (VL)

see also white matter fibers

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