Once the primary afferent synapses with the second order neuron where does the second order neuron project?
The axon of the second-order neuron projects as the spinothalamic tract.
It descends to ventromedial gray and crosses the midline through the anterior commissure and then ascends in the ventrolateral white matter of the cord as the spinothalamic tract (neospinothalamic).
There is also a multisynaptic spinothalamic tract that ascends in the dorsomedial white matter of the spinal cord near the midline.
This is called the paleospinothalamic tract .
These tracts ascend to the brain stem, thalamus, somatosensory cortex, and limbic system
