The term subcortical somatosensory system refers to one of seven subcortical sensory systems in the functional model of central nervous system organization (see models Where It Appears below). It consists of a set of thirteen nuclei, areas and zones in the cerebrospinal trunk, which are grouped on the basis of connectivity and function. Located in the spinal cord, hindbrain, midbrain, and interbrain, they process inputs from receptors in the skin, muscles and joints that arrive from the peripheral nervous system and provide output to the somatosensory cortex of the forebrain ( Swanson-2004 ).