The anterolateral pathway forms a reasonably compact bundle of fibers that ascend through the lateral part of the medulla. Fibers of the spinoreticular division continue to "peel off" at this level and terminate on cells of the medullary reticular formation. Cells of the reticular formation are scattered diffusely throughout the region indicated by the white stippling. These cells, in turn, give rise to axons which ascend to the thalamus within the central tegmental tract. While the spinothalamic division may retain some somatotopic organization, it is not precise enough to be of clinical