What is it about?
In our study, we give an overview of the most recent advances in trigeminal functioning at the level of embryology, anatomy and physiology. Moreover, we briefly describe latest discoveries on how pain is perceived through the trigeminal sensory system. To take you on this path, we start at the different sensors of the trigeminal system lying in the skin and oral mucosa. We then move along its trajectory towards the trigeminal ganglion, being the first crossroad further towards the trigeminal nuclei at the spine from where it projects to the thalamus and cerebral cortex.
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Why is it important?
Before understanding how this system can malfunction, we must understand the normal, non-pathological, functioning of this specialised sensory cascade. .
Perspectives
The understanding of pain and its underlying mechanisms remains a highly active research area. We start to understand how peripheral pain perception works (pain coming from the trunk and extremities) and how these pain signals are being interpreted or sometimes misinterpreted at the level of our brain. Pain signals coming from the face or intra-orally are conveyed through an anatomic and physiological entirely different system: the trigeminal sensory system. The trigeminal nerve and its branches are indispensable for sensitivity, speaking, eating, kissing, tasting. As these vital functions make up who we are, the trigeminal system is very well represented in the brain cortex. This broad representation, its extensive and specialised innervation and multiple cross connections making it one of the most complex cranial nerves of the human body.
Frederic Van der Cruyssen
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Neurophysiological aspects of the trigeminal sensory system: an update, Reviews in the Neurosciences, February 2018, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/revneuro-2017-0044.
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