Nucleus proprius
Nucleus proprius
- Related terms: Spinal laminae III and IV; Nucleus proprius; Spinal laminae III and IV
Definition
Nucleus proprius is a prominent sensory nucleus located in the posterior horn of spinal cord. It dorsal portion occupies lamina III, while its ventral portion resides in lamina IV of the head of posterior horn of spinal cord. Nucleus proprius could also potentially extend into lamina V in the neck region of the posterior horn. Vertically, the nucleus proprius spans the entire length of the posterior horn of spinal cord. It plays a key role in processing sensory input, receiving information about vibration, proprioception, and two-point discrimination from the collateral branches of ascending first-order neurons in the dorsal column-medial lemniscal pathway.
References
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
