Editing Spinothalamic tract (section)

{{short description|Sensory pathway from the skin to the thalamus}}
{{More references needed|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox tract
| Name            = Spinothalamic tract
| Latin           = tractus spinothalamicus
| Image           = 
| Image2          = Spinal Cord Sensory Pathways.png| 
| Caption2        = Diagram showing the anterior and lateral spinothalamic tracts within the [[spinal cord]] - 
|PartOf=[[Spinal cord]]| Components      =Anterior and lateral tracts
| Artery          =[[Anterior spinal artery]]
| Vein            =
|System=[[Somatosensory system]]|Function=Gross touch and temperature|From=[[Skin]]|To=[[Thalamus]]|Decussation=[[Anterior white commissure]]}}

The '''spinothalamic tract'''  is a [[nerve tract]] in  the [[anterolateral system]] in the [[spinal cord]].<ref name="Haines">{{cite book |last1=Haines |first1=Duane |title=Fundamental neuroscience for basic and clinical applications |date=2018 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Philadelphia, PA |isbn=9780323396325 |page=259 |edition=Fifth}}</ref> This tract is an ascending sensory pathway to the [[thalamus]]. From the [[ventral posterolateral nucleus]] in the thalamus, sensory information is relayed upward to the [[somatosensory cortex]] of the [[postcentral gyrus]].

The spinothalamic tract consists of two adjacent pathways: anterior and lateral. The anterior spinothalamic tract carries information about [[crude touch]]. The lateral spinothalamic tract conveys [[pain]] and [[temperature]].<ref name="Al-Chalabi">{{cite journal |last1=Al-Chalabi |first1=Mustafa |last2=Reddy |first2=Vamsi |last3=Gupta |first3=Sonu |title=Neuroanatomy, Spinothalamic Tract |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507824/ |website=StatPearls |publisher=StatPearls Publishing |access-date=19 July 2024 |date=2024|pmid=29939601 }}</ref>

In the [[spinal cord]], the spinothalamic tract has [[somatotopic arrangement|somatotopic organization]]. This is the segmental organization of its [[Neck|cervical]], [[thoracic]], [[lumbar]], and [[Sacrum|sacral]] components, which is arranged from most medial to most lateral respectively.

The pathway crosses over ([[decussates]]) at the level of the spinal cord, rather than in the [[brainstem]] like the [[dorsal column-medial lemniscus pathway]] and [[lateral corticospinal tract]]. It is one of the three tracts which make up the [[Spinothalamic tract#Anterolateral system|anterolateral system]]: anterior and lateral spinothalamic tract, [[spinotectal tract]], [[spinoreticular tract]].