Head of posterior horn

Caput cornus posterioris

  • Latin synonym: Caput columnae posterioris
  • Related terms: Head

Definition

The head of posterior horn refers to the posterior region–just inner to the tip–of the posterior or dorsal horn of spinal cord. The head mainly corresponds with Rexed laminae III and IV. The major sensory nucleus residing inside the head of posterior horn includes the nucleus proprius, which lies in lamina III and IV (with a small part of it extending into the neck region as well, a.k.a. lamina V). Lamina II, which caps the head of the posterior horn, is considered by some to be a part of the head of posterior horn. The nucleus which lies in lamina II is called the substantia gelatinosa.

The head (and its constituent nuclei) extends throughout the length of the spinal cord. Substantia gelatinosa receives pain and temperature sensory information from the ascending first order neurons of the lateral spinothalamic tracts. Whereas, nucleus proprius receives sensory information of vibration, proprioception and 2-point discrimination from the collaterals arising from ascending first order neurons of the dorsal column.

These first order neurons enter the spinal segments via the dorsal nerve roots to reach out to the head of posterior horn.

Text written by Muhammad A. Javaid, MD, PhD © 2022 IMAIOS.

  • Snell, R.S. (2010). ‘Chapter 4: The Spinal Cord and the Ascending and Descending Tracts’, in Clinical Neuroanatomy. (7th ed.) Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, pp. 137-142.

  • Byrne, J.H. and Dafny, N. ‘Chapter 2: Anatomy of the Spinal Cord. [Content reviewed and revised 07 Oct 2020]. In Neuroanatomy Online, an open-access electronic laboratory for the neurosciences. McGovern Medical School at UTHealth; Accessed 2022 Oct 22. Available from: https://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/m/s2/chapter03.html

  • Brown, A.G. (1982). Review article the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology: Translation and Integration, 67(2), pp.193-212. https://doi.org/10.1113/expphysiol.1982.sp002630

  • Ganapathy, M.K., Reddy, V. and Tadi, P. Neuroanatomy, Spinal Cord Morphology. [Updated 2021 Oct 30]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545206/


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