The dorsolateral pontine reticular formation contains
noradrenergic pain-inhibiting neurons which project to inhibitory
interneuron
Interneurons (also called internuncial neurons, relay neurons, association neurons, connector neurons, intermediate neurons or local circuit neurons) are neurons that connect two brain regions, i.e. not direct motor neurons or sensory neurons. I ...
s of the
substantia gelatinosa of the
posterior grey column in the
spinal cord. It thus complements the classical
serotonergic-opioid peptide descending pain-inhibiting system: whereas the serotonergic-opioid peptide pathway ultimately pre-synaptically inhibits first-order nociceptive
group C neurons, the DLPRF inhibits - by way of presumably
GABAergic
In molecular biology and physiology, something is GABAergic or GABAnergic if it pertains to or affects the neurotransmitter GABA. For example, a synapse is GABAergic if it uses GABA as its neurotransmitter, and a GABAergic neuron produces GABA. A ...
inhibitory interneurons - the second-order neurons of the ascending pain pathway. The DLPRF pathway is not affected by opioid agonists or antagonists.
It is also involved in
REM sleep
Rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep or REMS) is a unique phase of sleep in mammals and birds, characterized by random rapid movement of the eyes, accompanied by low muscle tone throughout the body, and the propensity of the sleeper to dream viv ...
.
See also
*
Raphespinal tract - the canonical descending pain-inhibiting pathway which the DLPRF functionally complements.
*
Reticular formation
The reticular formation is a set of interconnected nuclei that are located throughout the brainstem. It is not anatomically well defined, because it includes neurons located in different parts of the brain. The neurons of the reticular formation ...
References
Brainstem nuclei
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