Apex of posterior horn - Spinal cord - Grey substance - e-Anatomy
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Apex of posterior horn

Apex cornus posterioris

  • Latin synonym: Nucleus marginalis; Apex columnae posterioris
  • Synonym: Marginal nucleus; Marginal zone
  • Related terms: Spinal lamina I; Marginal nucleus; Spinal lamina I

Definition

The tip or the apex of posterior horn refers to the posterior-most region of the posterior (or dorsal) horn of spinal cord. From a cytoarchitectural perspective, the apex of posterior horn coincides with Rexed lamina I. It contains a column of neuronal cell bodies called the marginal zone (or nucleus), a.k.a. posteromarginal nucleus or lamina marginalis.

The marginal zone (and the substantia gelatinosa) receive sensory information of pain and temperature through the first order sensory neurons of the ascending lateral spinothalamic tract. These first order neurons enter the spinal segments via the dorsal nerve roots to reach out to the apex of posterior horn. From here onwards, some of the marginal cells project to the thalamus and the primary sensory cortex.

References

Text written by Muhammad A. Javaid, MD, PhD © 2022 IMAIOS.

  • Snell, R.S. (2010). ‘Chapter 4: The Spinal Cord and the Ascending and Descending Tracts’, in Clinical Neuroanatomy. (7th ed.) Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, pp. 137-142.

  • Byrne, J.H. and Dafny, N. ‘Chapter 2: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord. [Content reviewed and revised 07 Oct 2020]. In Neuroanatomy Online, an open-access electronic laboratory for the neurosciences. McGovern Medical School at UTHealth; Accessed 2022 Oct 22. Available from: https://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/m/s2/chapter03.html

  • Brown, A.G. (1982). Review article the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology: Translation and Integration, 67(2), pp.193-212. https://doi.org/10.1113/expphysiol.1982.sp002630

  • Ganapathy, M.K., Reddy, V. and Tadi, P. Neuroanatomy, Spinal Cord Morphology. [Updated 2021 Oct 30]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545206/

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