Fastigial nucleus
| Fastigial nucleus | |
|---|---|
 Cross-section of the cerebellum. Fastigial nucleus labeled at top-right. | |
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | nucleus fastigii |
| NeuroNames | 690 |
| NeuroLex ID | birnlex_1146 |
| TA98 | A14.1.07.411 |
| TA2 | 5840 |
| FMA | 72537 |
| Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy | |
The fastigial nucleus is located in each hemisphere of the cerebellum. It is one of the four deep cerebellar nuclei.
Although it is one dense mass, it is made up of two sections: the rostral fastigial nucleus and the caudal fastigial nucleus.
Anatomy[edit]
The fastigial nucleus is situated atop the roof of the fourth ventricle (thence its name: "fastigus" is Latin for "summit").[1]
The fastigial nucleus is a mass of gray matter nearest to the middle line at the anterior end of the superior vermis, immediately over the roof of the fourth ventricle (the peak of which is called the fastigium), from which it is separated by a thin layer of white matter.[2]
It is smaller than the nucleus dentatus, but somewhat larger than the nucleus emboliformis and nucleus globosus.[citation needed]
Afferents[edit]
The fastigial nucleus receives afferents vestibulocerebellar fibres (containing first-roder axons from the vestibular nerve as well as second-order axons from the vestibular nuclei), and from Purkinje cells of the cortex of the vestibulocerebellum.[1]
Efferents[edit]
The fastigial nucleus projects efferents to: the medial, lateral and inferior vestibular nuclei, reticular formation, ventral lateral nucleus of thalamus, and cerebellar cortex. It gives rise to fastigiovestibular fibres and fastigioreticular fibres: both leave the cerebellum via the juxtarestiform body of the inferior cerebellar peduncle.[1]
- fastigiovestibular fibres project principally to the lateral and inferior vestibular nuclei to influence the vestibulospinal tract bilaterally;[1]
- fastigioreticular fibres project to the (pontine and medullary) reticular formation to influence the reticulospinal tracts (bilaterally, but mainly contralaterally).[1]
Through the vestibulospinal and reticulospinal tracts, the fastigial efferents are involved in regulation of balance and posture as well as axial and proximal limb musculature activity.[1]
Structure[edit]
Rostral fastigial nucleus[edit]
The rostral fastigial nucleus (rFN) is related to the vestibular system. It receives input from the vestibular nuclei and contributes to vestibular neuronal activity. The rFN interprets body motion and places it on spatial planes to estimate the movement of the body through space.[3] It deals with antigravity muscle groups and other synergies involved with standing and walking.[4]
Caudal fastigial nucleus[edit]
The caudal fastigial nucleus (cFN) is related to saccadic eye movements. The Purkinje cell output from the oculomotor vermis relays through the cFN, where neurons directly related to saccadic eye movements are located.[5]
References[edit]
This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)
- ^ a b c d e f Patestas, Maria A.; Gartner, Leslie P. (2016). A Textbook of Neuroanatomy (2nd ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 291–292. ISBN 978-1-118-67746-9.
- ^ John K. Harting (1997). "The Global Cerebellum '97". University of Wisconsin Medical School. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
- ^ Brooks & Cullen, <http://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/34/10499.full.pdf> [Multimodal integration in rostral fastigial nucleus provides an estimate of body movement], 2009
- ^ James D. Geyer; Janice M. Keating; Daniel C. Potts (1998). Neurology for the Boards. Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven. p. 9.
- ^ Kleine, Guan, & Buttner, <http://jn.physiology.org/content/90/5/3137.full.pdf+html> [Saccade-related neurons in the primate fastigial nucleus: what do they encode?], 2003
External links[edit]
- Illustration and text: cere/text/P5/fastig.htm at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical school
- https://web.archive.org/web/20150621011739/http://www.mona.uwi.edu/fpas/courses/physiology/neurophysiology/Cerebellum.htm
- https://web.archive.org/web/20080405062814/http://www.lib.mcg.edu/edu/eshuphysio/program/section8/8ch6/s8ch6_29.htm
- NIF Search - Fastigial Nucleus via the Neuroscience Information Framework
