In some species, the ventral posterolateral nucleus, pars caudalis is also a part of the VB.
[2] STT cells located in the cervical area of the spinal cord are the densest and project from the neck of the dorsal horn to the VPL of the VB.
[2] Excitatory inputs to the VB are medial lemniscal (ML) and corticothalamic (CT) glutamatergic synapses.
nAChRs that are made up of (α4β2)2α5 are of interest because they decrease neurotransmitter release for corticothalamic (CT) synapses.
[4] When MORs are activated, by an agonist like DAMGO for example, pain-related behaviors are decreased for a certain amount of time.
After 45 minutes rats that were given DAMGO show signs of increased pain behaviors suggesting that opiates activate a pronociceptive system which can lead to increased pain sensitivity after only having one dose of opiates administered.
[5] When GABAB receptors are activated or blocked by baclofen (agonist) or CGP35348 (antagonist) respectively there is a decrease in pain-related behaviors in a dose-dependent manner.