Present at the junction between the spinal cord and medulla oblongata, the dorsal column nuclei consist of paired gracile, and cuneate nuclei (labels 6 and 7, respectively).
The gracile nucleus is medial to the cuneate nucleus.[5] Its neurons receive afferent input from dorsal root gangliasensory neurons of the lower torso and the lower limbs.[5] The gracile nucleus and gracile fasciculus carry epicritic, kinesthetic, and conscious proprioceptive information from the lower part of the body (below the level of T6 in the spinal cord). Because of the large population of neurons in the gracile nucleus they give rise to a raised area called the gracile tubercle on the posterior side of the closed medulla at the floor of the fourth ventricle.
The cuneate nucleus is lateral to the gracile nucleus.[5] It carries the same type of information, but from the upper body and the upper limbs (except the face, which is carried by the principal sensory nucleus of trigeminal nerve).[5] The cuneate nucleus is wedge-shaped and located in the closed part of the medulla. It lies lateral to the gracile nucleus and medial to the spinal trigeminal nucleus in the medulla. The large number of neurons found there give rise to the cuneate tubercle seen on viewing the posterior aspect of the medulla on the side of the brainstem.
The dorsal column nuclei help to carry fine touch and proprioceptive information from the body to the brain. The gracile nucleus carries information from the lower torso and the lower limbs.[5] The cuneate nucleus carries information from the upper body and the upper limbs.[5]
The dorsal column nuclei may degenerate during ageing, although evidence for this is not conclusive.[7] This may reduce the sensitivity of touch and proprioception.[7]