Posterolateral tract
Fasciculus posterolateralis
- Latin synonym: Tractus posterolateralis
- Synonym: Dorsolateral tract
- Eponym: Lissauer’s tract; Zone of Lissauer
- Related terms: Posterolateral tract; Dorsolateral tract
Definition
The posterolateral tract of Lissauer comprises of those axonal segments of first-order neurons in the spinothalamic pathway, which ascend or descend within the apex of the posterior gray horn of the spinal cord before synapsing with second-order neuron cell bodies–i.e. the substantia gelatinosa–in the posterior gray horn. The first-order neurons originate from the posterior root ganglion of the spinal nerve.
Axons of the second-order neurons then cross obliquely via the anterior commissure to reach the contralateral white matter, forming the lateral and anterior spinothalamic tracts, which ascend toward higher centers.
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. 146-149.
