The Anatomy of the vestibular nuclei
Section snippets
Location of the vestibular nuclei in the brainstem
The vestibular nuclei are located within the medulla and pons of the brainstem (Brodal and Pompeiano, 1957; Brodal et al., 1962) (Fig. 1). Classically, four major cell groups have been distinguished: the superior, medial, lateral and descending vestibular nuclei (SVN, MVN, LVN, and DVN, respectively). The SVN or nucleus of Bechterew is an elongated elliptical region with the long axis oriented rostrocaudally (Fig. 1A–E). For most of its extent, the nucleus is bounded dorsally by the superior
Vestibular nerve inputs to the vestibular nuclei
The vestibular nuclei comprise a sensorimotor complex that senses the movements and position of the head in space. Signals are generated in the labyrinth of the inner ear, where the three semicircular canals respond to angular accelerations of the head, and the two otolith organs, the sacculus and the utricle, respond to linear accelerations, including gravity. The information is conveyed to the vestibular complex via the eighth cranial nerve, and used to make compensatory eye and head
Anatomical organization
All parts of the MVN, and areas of SVN, DVN, and nPH, are interconnected bilaterally by commissural fibers (Pompeiano et al., 1978) (Fig. 14). This fiber system was first demonstrated between homonymous areas of peripheral SVN and DVN using axonal degeneration (Ladpli and Brodal, 1968), and subsequently shown using HRP injections to involve MVN neurons as well (Gacek, 1978; Carleton and Carpenter, 1983; Carpenter and Cowie, 1985b). It has since been acknowledged that the MVN constitutes the
Vestibulo-collic pathways
Most neck motor neurons receive vestibulo-spinal input that maintains a canal plane organization. However, approximately 30% of vestibulo-spinal neurons receive convergent input from a semicircular canal and an otolith organ. Spinal projecting vestibular neurons can be typed by the locations of their axons within the cervical white matter as either medial or lateral vestibulospinal tract (MVST and LVST, respectively) cells. LVST cells terminate ipsilaterally with respect to their origin in
Physiological signals transmitted by secondary vestibular neurons
There are several classes of physiologically identified neurons within the vestibular nuclear complex as noted above. There have been extensive recordings taken from the vestibular nuclei of alert animals; presumably neurons with eye movement related activity were related to the VOR (Henn et al., 1974; Miles, 1974; Miles and Fuller, 1974; Shinoda & Yoshida (1974a), Shinoda & Yoshida (1974b); Fuchs and Kimm, 1975; Keller and Daniels, 1975; Waespe & Henn (1977a), Waespe & Henn (1977b); Lisberger
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6.05 - Neuroanatomy of Central Vestibular Connections
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