Posterior Column-medial Lemniscus Pathway

The posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway, PCML for short, (also known as the dorsal column-medial lemniscus pathway or the dorsal white column-medial lemniscus system) is the sensory pathway responsible for transmitting fine touch, vibration and conscious proprioceptive information from the body to the cerebral cortex; as well as tactile pressure, barognosis, graphesthesia, stereognosis, recognition of texture, kinesthesia and two-point discrimination.

The name comes from the two structures that the sensation travels up: the posterior (or dorsal) columns of the spinal cord, and the medial lemniscus in the brainstem. Because the posterior columns are also called dorsal columns, the pathway is often called the dorsal column-medial lemniscus system, or DCML for short.

The PCML pathway is composed of rapidly conducting, large, myelinated fibers