Structure and Path
- Fibers of the vestibular nerve enter the medulla oblongata on the medial side of those of the cochlear.
- Fibers divide into ascending and descending fibers.
- Descending fibers arborize around the cells of the medial nucleus in the area acustica of the rhomboid fossa.
- Ascending fibers end in the lateral nucleus, situated lateral to the area acustica.
- Axons of the lateral and medial nuclei continue upward through the inferior peduncle to the roof nuclei of the opposite side of the cerebellum.
- Some fibers from the medial and lateral nuclei end partly in the tegmentum.
- Other fibers ascend in the medial longitudinal fasciculus to arborize around the cells of the nuclei of the oculomotor nerve.
- Fibers from the lateral vestibular nucleus pass via the vestibulospinal tract to anterior horn cells in the spinal cord.
- Fibers coordinate head and trunk movements.
- Vestibular root fibers are prolonged without interruption in the nuclei of the medulla oblongata.
Subnuclei
- There are 4 subnuclei situated at the floor of the fourth ventricle.
- Medial vestibular nucleus (dorsal or chief vestibular nucleus) is located in the medulla.
- Lateral vestibular nucleus or nucleus of Deiters is situated in the upper medulla.
- Inferior vestibular nucleus is found in the lower medulla.
- Superior vestibular nucleus is located in the pons.
Vestibular nerve and Vestibulocerebellar syndrome
- Vestibular nerve.
- Vestibulocerebellar syndrome.
References
- This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 788 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918).
- Illustration and text: Bs97/TEXT/P13/intro.htm at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical school.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20080405062814/http://www.lib.mcg.edu/edu/eshuphysio/program/section8/8ch6/s8ch6_29.htm.
- Parkinson.org.
Not applicable.
The vestibular nuclei (VN) are the cranial nuclei for the vestibular nerve located in the brainstem.
| Vestibular nuclei | |
|---|---|
 Dissection of brainstem. Dorsal view. (Caption for "Vestibular nucleus" is visible at left.) | |
| Details | |
| Part of | Medulla |
| System | Vestibular system |
| Artery | AICA, PICA |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | nuclei vestibulares |
| MeSH | D014726 |
| NeuroNames | 714 |
| NeuroLex ID | birnlex_1337 |
| TA98 | A14.1.04.242 A14.1.05.425 |
| TA2 | 5933 |
| FMA | 72239 |
| Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy | |
In Terminologia Anatomica they are grouped in both the pons and the medulla in the brainstem.
vestibular nuclei
