Spinoreticular tract
Most (85%) second-order axons arising from sensory C first-order fibers ascend in the spinoreticular tract - it is consequently responsible for transmitting "slow", dull, poorly-localised pain.By projecting to the reticular activating system (RAS), the tract also mediates arousal/alertness (including wakefulness) in response to noxious (harmful) stimuli.These interneurons then synapse with second-order neurons in laminae V-VIII[1] Their axons then ascend in the spinal cord near the lateral spinothalamic tract.Second-order axons of this tract terminate by forming multiple synapses in the nuclei of the medullary, pontine, and mesencephalic reticular formation.The nuclei of the reticular formation lack somatotopic organisation (consequently, sensory stimuli conveyed via this pathway are indistinctly localised).