The dorsal column or medial lemniscus.

Damage to the somatosensory pathway, specifically the dorsal column-medial lemniscal pathway, could result in diminished sense of touch. This pathway carries touch and proprioceptive information from the body to the brain for processing.

No, they are not the same thing. Spinal, medial, lateral and also trigeminal lemnisci can be found in the pons. They are bands of ascending sensory fibres in the brain stem and each of this lemnisci carry different types of sensations.

grade i degeneration of posterior horn of medial meniscus