Posterior thoracic nucleus - Brain - Brainstem - e-Anatomy
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Posterior thoracic nucleus

Nucleus thoracicus posterior

  • Synonym: Dorsal thoracic nucleus
  • Latin eponym: Nucleus Stillingi; Nucleus Clarkii
  • Eponym: Clarke’s column; Nucleus of Stilling-Clarke;
  • Related terms: Posterior thoracic nucleus; Dorsal thoracic nucleus

Definition

Muhammad A. Javaid

The posterior thoracic nucleus, also known as the dorsal nucleus of Clarke or Clarke’s column, is a cluster of neuronal cell bodies located at the base of the posterior horn of the spinal cord. This region corresponds to the lateral intermediate substance, or lamina VII, within the spinal cord's intermediate zone.

Clarke’s column extends from the C8 to L3/L4 spinal cord segments and plays a key role in processing subconscious proprioceptive information. It receives input from muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs, which detect changes in muscle length and tension, respectively. The axons originating from the neurons in Clarke's column form part of the dorsal and ventral spinocerebellar tracts, transmitting proprioceptive signals to the cerebellum for the coordination of movement.

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 3: 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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