Ventral posterolateral nucleus

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Brain: Ventral posterolateral nucleus
Image:ThalamicNuclei.png
Thalamic nuclei: MNG = Midline nuclear group AN = Anterior nuclear group MD = Medial dorsal nucleus VNG = Ventral nuclear group VA = Ventral anterior nucleus VL = Ventral lateral nucleus VPL = Ventral posterolateral nucleus VPM = Ventral posteromedial nucleus LNG = Lateral nuclear group PUL = Pulvinar MTh = Metathalamus LG = Lateral geniculate nucleus MG = Medial geniculate nucleus
Latin	nucleus ventralis posterolateralis thalami
NeuroNames	hier-327
Dorlands/Elsevier	n_11/12584011

The ventral posterolateral nucleus (VPL) is a nucleus of the thalamus. Together with the ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM) it constitutes the ventral posterior nucleus.

Input and output

It projects to the postcentral gyrus and receives information from the spinothalamic tract and the medial lemniscus of the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. This information is especially relating to the somatosensory system.

Additional images

Thalamus

The sensory tract.

v • d • e Brain: diencephalon
Epithalamus	Pineal body • Habenula (Habenular nuclei) • Stria medullaris • Habenular trigone
Thalamus/nuclei	paired: AN • Ventral (VA/VL, VP/VPM/VPL) • Lateral (Pulvinar) • Metathalamus (MG, LG) midline: MD • Intralaminar (Centromedian) • Midline nuclear group • Interthalamic adhesion • Medullary laminae surface: reticular tracts to thalamus: Mammillothalamic tract • Thalamic fasciculus • Lenticular fasciculus • Ansa lenticularis • Medial lemniscus • Trigeminal lemniscus • Spinothalamic tract • Lateral lemniscus
Hypothalamus	autonomic zones: Anterior (parasympathetic/heat loss) • Posterior (sympathetic/heat conservation) endocrine - posterior pituitary: magnocellular/Paraventricular/Supraoptic (oxytocin/vasopressin) endocrine - other: parvocellular/Arcuate (dopamine/GHRH) • Preoptic (GnRH) • Suprachiasmatic (melatonin) emotion: Lateral (hunger) • Ventromedial (satiety) • Dorsomedial (rage) surface: Median eminence/Tuber cinereum • Mammillary body • Infundibulum tracts: Medial forebrain bundle Pituitary: (Posterior is diencephalon, but anterior is glandular)
Subthalamus	Subthalamic nucleus • Zona incerta

Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content

Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .