The spinothalamic tract is an ascending pathway that carries pain and temperature sensation, that is, how you would know you burnt your hand. The first-order sensory neuron located in the dorsal root ganglion receives sensory information mainly via Aα and C fibers. The axons from the first-order neuron enter the spinal cord via the dorsal root. As opposed to the dorsal column pathway, these axons synapse immediately in laminae I and V of the dorsal root gray matter (substantia gelationsa). The axons from the second-order neurons then immediately cross to the contralateral side of the spinal cord through the central gray matter and ascend via a lateral tract in the spinal cord to synapse in the contralateral thalamus. Some of the axons first ascend or descend via Lissauer’s tract before crossing to the contralateral side.