The spinal trigeminal nucleus is a

nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucle ...

in the medulla that receives information about deep/crude touch,

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...

, and

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

from the ipsilateral face. In addition to the

trigeminal nerve In neuroanatomy, the trigeminal nerve ( lit. ''triplet'' nerve), also known as the fifth cranial nerve, cranial nerve V, or simply CN V, is a cranial nerve responsible for sensation in the face and motor functions such as biting and chewin ...

(CN V), the facial (CN VII),

glossopharyngeal The glossopharyngeal nerve (), also known as the ninth cranial nerve, cranial nerve IX, or simply CN IX, is a cranial nerve that exits the brainstem from the sides of the upper Medulla oblongata, medulla, just anterior (closer to the nose) to t ...

(CN IX), and

vagus nerve The vagus nerve, also known as the tenth cranial nerve, cranial nerve X, or simply CN X, is a cranial nerve that interfaces with the parasympathetic control of the heart, lungs, and digestive tract. It comprises two nerves—the left and right ...

s (CN X) also convey pain information from their areas to the spinal trigeminal nucleus.Brainstem Nuclei
Thus the spinal trigeminal nucleus receives input from cranial nerves V,

VII VII or vii may refer to: the Roman numeral 7 Art and entertainment * The Vii, a video game console * vii, leading-tone triad, see diminished triad * ''VII'' (Blitzen Trapper album) * ''VII'' (Just-Ice album) * ''VII'' (Teyana Taylor album) * ...

, IX, and X. The spinal nucleus is composed of three subnuclei: subnucleus oralis (pars oralis), subnucleus caudalis (pars caudalis), and subnucleus interpolaris (pars interpolaris). The subnucleus oralis is associated with the transmission of discriminative (fine) tactile sense from the orofacial region, and is continuous with the principal sensory nucleus of V. The subnucleus interpolaris is also associated with the transmission of tactile sense, as well as

dental pain Toothache, also known as dental pain,Segen JC. (2002). ''McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine''. The McGraw-Hill Companies. is pain in the teeth or their supporting structures, caused by dental diseases or pain referred to the te ...

, whereas the subnucleus caudalis is associated with the transmission of

nociception Nociception (also nocioception, from Latin ''nocere'' 'to harm or hurt') is the sensory nervous system's process of encoding noxious stimuli. It deals with a series of events and processes required for an organism to receive a painful stimulus, co ...

and thermal sensations from the head. This region is also denoted at sp5 in other neuroanatomical nomenclature. This nucleus projects to the ventral posteriomedial (VPM) nucleus in the contralateral thalamus via the

ventral trigeminal tract The ventral trigeminal tract, ventral trigeminothalamic tract, anterior trigeminal tract, or anterior trigeminothalamic tract, is a tract composed of second order neuronal axons. These fibers carry sensory information about discriminative and crude ...

. In mice, this thalamic nucleus has significant amounts of expression of

leptin Leptin (from Ancient Greek, Greek λεπτός ''leptos'', "thin" or "light" or "small") is a hormone predominantly made by adipose cells and enterocytes in the small intestine that helps to regulate Energy homeostasis, energy balance by inhib ...

receptors,

NPY NPY may refer to: *Neuropeptide Y Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36 amino-acid neuropeptide that is involved in various physiological and homeostatic processes in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. NPY has been identified as the most ...

and GLP-1.

References

Cranial nerve nuclei Medulla oblongata Facial nerve Glossopharyngeal nerve Trigeminal nerve Vagus nerve {{Neuroanatomy-stub

See also

References