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- Basics
- Anatomy
The Pons
The name is not correct, but it is involved in motor function, taste, and important vegetative functions.
20.09.2025
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- Diseases
- Multiple sclerosis
The Disease with a thousand Faces
Key facts about MS. And first things first: the course of the disease can be significantly influenced.
07.10.2025
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- Act
- Motor Skills
Forced Right-Handedness
When left-handed people were retrained to use their right hand, their brains were also retrained.
25.10.2025
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- Basics
- Anatomy
The Ventricular System
What's hiding in our brains? An alien wearing a helmet! Or a human with ram's horns?
20.09.2025
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- Discover
- Milestones
John Eccles: Across the Gap
John Eccles disproved his own theories. In doing so, he helped to elucidate synaptic transmission.
06.06.2013
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- Glossary
dorsal
The positional term dorsal means "towards the back." In relation to the nervous system, it refers to a direction perpendicular to the neural axis, i.e., upwards towards the head or backwards.In animals that do not walk upright, the term is simpler, as it always means toward the back. Due to the upright posture of humans, the brain bends in relation to the spinal cord, making dorsal mean "upward."
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- Glossary
Pons
Area in the brain stem between the medulla oblongata and the mesencephalon. It acts as a switching station for many nerve pathways between the brain and spinal cord and contains numerous nuclei, including cranial nerves and those involved in controlling motor function in cooperation with the cerebellum.
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- Glossary
ventral
A positional term – ventral means "towards the abdomen." In relation to the nervous system, it refers to a direction perpendicular to the neural axis, i.e., downwards or forwards. In animals (that do not walk upright), the term is simpler, as it always means toward the abdomen. Due to the upright posture of humans, the brain bends in relation to the spinal cord, making ventral mean "forward."
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- Glossary
Posterior ventral nucleus
A nucleus of the dorsal thalamus that serves as the main somatosensory thalamic nucleus. The VPL receives somatosensory afferents from the body via the spinal cord (pressure, touch, vibration, proprioception, pain, temperature), while the VPM receives afferents from the head region via the trigeminal nerve. It transmits this information to the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and thus plays a central role in the awareness of somatosensory stimuli, including pain.
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- Glossary
Substance P
Substance P is a neuropeptide that acts as a neurotransmitter and belongs to the tachykinin family. High concentrations are found in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, where it is involved in pain modulation.
