The role of glyclinergic interneurons in the dorsal column nuclei

Abstract

[Abstract] The aim of this paper is to provide new insights about the circuitry and the role of the dorsal column nuclei (DCN) in processing somatosensory information. The presence of glycinergic cells, a second type of DCN interneurons in addition to well-known GABAergic interneurons, opens the door to more complex interactions between cuneate cells as well as to a new hypothesis about the computational implications of such interactions. The research posed here fits in a broader context in the field of the sensory systems and deals with the general issue on the role of subcortical structures (i.e the thalamus) in processing sensory information.