The principal sensory nucleus of trigeminal nerve (or chief sensory nucleus of V, main trigeminal sensory nucleus) is a group of
second-order neuron
Second-order may refer to:
Mathematics
* Second order approximation, an approximation that includes quadratic terms
* Second-order arithmetic, an axiomatization allowing quantification of sets of numbers
* Second-order differential equation, a d ...
s which have cell bodies in the caudal
pons
The pons (from Latin , "bridge") is part of the brainstem that in humans and other mammals, lies inferior to the midbrain, superior to the medulla oblongata and anterior to the cerebellum.
The pons is also called the pons Varolii ("bridge of ...
.
It receives information about discriminative sensation and light touch of the face as well as conscious
proprioception
Proprioception ( ) is the sense of self-movement, force, and body position.
Proprioception is mediated by proprioceptors, a type of sensory receptor, located within muscles, tendons, and joints. Most animals possess multiple subtypes of propri ...
of the
jaw
The jaws are a pair of opposable articulated structures at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth ...
via first order neurons of
CN V.
* Most of the sensory information crosses the midline and travels to the
contralateral ventral posteromedial nucleus
The ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM) is a nucleus within the ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus and serves an analogous somatosensory relay role for the ascending trigeminothalamic tracts as its lateral neighbour the ventral posterolat ...
(VPM) of the thalamus via the
anterior trigeminothalamic tract
The ventral trigeminal tract, ventral trigeminothalamic tract, anterior trigeminal tract, or anterior trigeminothalamic tract, is a nerve tract, tract composed of second-order neuron, second-order neuronal axons. These afferent fibers carry sensor ...
.
* However, information of the ''oral cavity'' travels to the ipsilateral VPM of the thalamus via the
dorsal trigeminothalamic tract.
{{Authority control
Cranial nerve nuclei
Trigeminal nerve
Pons