ventroposterior nucleus
a nucleus of the thalamus in the brain that relays messages from the spinal cord to the primary somatosensory area in the anterior parietal cortex. It includes the medial and lateral ventroposterior subnuclei, representing the face and body respectively, and receives input from cutaneous receptors. The ventroposterior nucleus is part of the ventroposterior nuclear complex; this also includes the ventroposterior superior nucleus, which receives input from muscle spindles, and the ventroposterior inferior nucleus, which receives spinothalamic terminations related to touch, pain, and temperature. Also called posterior ventral lateral nucleus; postventral nucleus; ventral posterior lateral nucleus.