Pathways of Cutaneous and Visceral Sensations

PATHWAYS OF CUTANEOUSAND VISCERAL SENSATIONS

We have considered what sensory receptors are and how they convert different stimuli to action potentials and how the impulses generated make their way to the spinal cord and brain. Now, the specific pathway taken by the various sensory im-pulses is considered.

As mentioned, the cell bodies of the sensory neu-rons are located in the dorsal root ganglia (or equiv-alent for cranial nerves), and the central branches en-ter the spinal cord (or brain). On entering, these nerves make several connections with motor neurons at the same spinal segment and those above and be-low. They also connect with neurons that convey the impulses to the brain.