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Pontine nuclei

 
Medical Dictionary: pontine nuclei
 

pl.n.

The very large mass of gray matter filling the pons and serving as a major way station in impulse conduction from the cerebral cortex of one hemisphere to the posterior lobe of the opposite cerebellar hemisphere.

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Wikipedia: Pontine nuclei
 
Brain: Pontine nuclei
Latin nuclei pontis
Gray's subject #187 786
NeuroNames hier-613

The pontine nuclei are a part of the pons which store the memory of intention during motor activity. Corticopontine fibres carry information from the primary motor cortex to the ipsilateral pontine nucleus in the ventral pons, and the pontocerebellar projection then carries that information to the contralateral cerebellum via the middle cerebellar peduncle.

They therefore allow modification of actions in the light of their outcome, or error correction, and are hence important in learning motor skills.

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Medical Dictionary. The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pontine nuclei" Read more