Trigeminal System
• Separate components for pain and touch
• Brain stem nuclei:
– Caudal nucleus (pain)
– Interpolar nucleus (caudal part for pain-mouth)
– Oral nucleus (???)
– Main sensory nucleus
• 3 Separate thalamic pain nuclei & 1 for touch:
– Pain (VPM, VMpo, MD)
– Touch (VPM)
• 3 Separate cortical representations:
– Postcentral gyrus (localization)
– Insular (important for pain)
– Cingulate (emotions, esp. for pain)
• Pain suppression system
– PAG-->Raphe nuclei (5-HT)-->Caudal nucleus