Glossary D

Dorsal means located toward the back, away from the ventral (stomach) side; toward the back. The top of the brain is Dorsal in humans.

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Dorsal column medial lemniscal pathway refers to a pathway that carries information pertaining to touch and vibration. It is so named because it is routed up the dorsal aspects of the spinal cord to a white matter tract termed the medial lemniscus that courses through the contralateral side of the brainstem through the medulla, pons, and midbrain to be routed up through the Thalamus (ventral posterior nucleus ) and on to the primary somatosensory cortex.

Dorsal flexion (Dorsiflexion) defined as flexion movement of the ankle resulting in the top of foot moving toward the anterior tibia.

Dorsal horns refers to the part of the spinal cord away from the stomach that receives sensory input and that may play an important role in the perception of pain.

Dorsal pathway is defined as a pathway that conducts signals from the striatev cortex to the parietal lobe. Dorsal pathway is also called the where, the how, or the action pathway to indicate its function.

Dorsal root ganglia refers to set of sensory neuron somata on the dorsal side of the spinal cord; set of sensory neuron somata on the dorsal side of the spinal cord

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Dorsal stream is defined as the visual path in the parietal cortex which is sometimes known as the "where" or "how" pathway.

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Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex defined as the area located, functionally, in the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for orchestrating and organizing many functions of the brain. The Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is not a "movement center" in and of itself, but is instrumental in deploying movement. Sensory information from the integrative association area of the parietal lobes is relayed to this motor planning area.