The afferent fibers from the periphery that carry nociceptive information most likely use glutamate as a neurotransmitter to excite spinal cells in the dorsal horn.

Johns Hopkins University

Sensations of pain and temperature are transmitted separately by the anterolateral, or spinothalamic, system.
- Anterolateral System
- Glutamate
- Substance P

Pain in the Spinal Pathways

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

Free nerve endings in the skin sending their axons to synapse on neurons in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. These spinal cord neurons send their axons across the midline to the opposite side and up the anterolateral column of the spinal cord to the thalamus. Therefore, in the anterolateral system, pain information crosses the midline in the spinal cord before ascending to the brain. 

Anterolateral System

Pain: Glutamate

In addition to glutamate, the afferent fibers from the periphery that carry nociceptive information also release the neuromodulator substance P, which is a neuropeptide. When substance P is released in the dorsal horn (after a painful stimuli), the postsynaptic neurons will take up substance P and begin remodeling their dendrites.

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