Pontine nuclei
American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary:
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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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Pontine nuclei
| Brain: Latin = nuclei pontis | ||
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| Cross section through the lower pons showing the pontine nuclei (#22) and the pontocerebellar fibers emerging from them to become the middle cerebellar peduncle | ||
| Gray's | subject #187 786 | |
| NeuroNames | hier-613 | |
The pontine nuclei (or griseum pontis) are a part of the pons involved in 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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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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