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
Posterolateral tract of Lissauer refers to those segments of the axons of first order neurons in the spinothalamic neuronal pathway, which ascend and descend in the apex of the posterior gray column of spinal cord, prior to synapsing with cell bodies of the second order neurons in the posterior gray column. These first order neurons enter the apex of the posterior gray column from the posterior root ganglion of the spinal nerve.
The ascending and descending fibers of posterolateral tract of Lissauer terminate by synapsing with cell bodies of the second order neurons in the posterior gray column, mainly the nucleus of substantia gelatinosa. Here they release a synaptic neurotransmitter, called substance P.
Next, the axons of these second order neurons cross obliquely–in front–via the anterior gray and white commissures, to ascend in the contralateral white column as lateral and anterior spinothalamic tracts.
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. 146-149.
