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Cranial nerve nucleus

Collection of neurons in the brain stem

Field	Value
Name	Cranial nerve nucleus
Latin	nucleus nervi cranialis
Image	Gray696.svg
Caption	The cranial nerve nuclei schematically represented; dorsal view. Motor nuclei in red; sensory in blue. (The olfactory and optic centers are not represented.)

A cranial nerve nucleus is a collection of neuron cell bodies (gray matter) in the brain stem that is associated with one or more of the cranial nerves. Axons carrying information to and from the cranial nerves form a synapse first at these nuclei. Lesions occurring at these nuclei can lead to effects resembling those seen by the severing of nerve(s) they are associated with. All the nuclei except that of the trochlear nerve (CN IV) supply nerves of the same side of the body.

Structure

Motor and sensory

In general, motor nuclei are closer to the front (ventral), and sensory nuclei and neurons are closer to the back (dorsal). This arrangement mirrors the arrangement of tracts in the spinal cord.

Close to the midline are the motor efferent nuclei, such as the oculomotor nucleus, which control skeletal muscle. Just lateral to this are the autonomic (or visceral) efferent nuclei.
There is a separation, called the sulcus limitans, and lateral to this are the sensory nuclei. Near the sulcus limitans are the visceral afferent nuclei, namely the solitary tract nucleus.
More lateral, but also less posterior, are the general somatic afferent nuclei. This is the trigeminal nucleus. Back at the dorsal surface of the brainstem, and more lateral are the special somatic afferents, this handles sensation such as balance.
Another area, not on the dorsum of the brainstem, is where the special visceral efferents nuclei reside. These formed from the pharyngeal arches, in the embryo. This area is a bit below the autonomic motor nuclei, and includes the nucleus ambiguus, facial nerve nucleus, as well as the motor part of the trigeminal nerve nucleus.

Location

This list documents nuclei by the part of the brain they are found in:

Red nucleus - motor, extrapyramidal
Trochlear nucleus (IV) - motor
Oculomotor nucleus (III) - motor
Edinger-Westphal nucleus (III) - visceromotor
Cochlear nuclei (VIII) - sensory
- Dorsal cochlear nucleus
- Ventral cochlear nucleus
Vestibular nuclei (VIII) - sensory
Salivary nuclei - visceromotor
- Inferior salivary nucleus (IX)
- Superior salivary nucleus (VII)
Facial nucleus (VII) - motor
Abducens nucleus (VI) - motor
Trigeminal motor nucleus (V) - motor
Main trigeminal nucleus (V) - sensory (fine touch and vibration)

Hypoglossal nucleus (XII) - motor
Dorsal motor nucleus of vagus nerve (X) - visceromotor
Nucleus ambiguus (IX, X, XI) - motor
Solitary nucleus (VII, IX, X) - sensory
Spinal trigeminal nucleus (V) - sensory (crude touch, temperature and pain)
Inferior olivary nucleus afferent fibres to cerebellum

Location

Hypoglossal nerve	Hypoglossal nucleus

References

Lennart Heimer, The Human Brain,

Additional images

File:Gray697.png|Nuclei of origin of cranial motor nerves schematically represented; lateral view. File:Gray698.png|Primary terminal nuclei of the afferent (sensory) cranial nerves schematically represented; lateral view. File:Brain stem sagittal section.svg|Brain stem sagittal section

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

cranial-nerve-nuclei brainstem

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