Colliculi superiores
The colliculi superiores (Latin for "upper hillocks") - referred to in animals as colliculi rostrales - are the upper (front) two hills of the so-called four-hill plate (lamina quadrigemina) and thus part of the midbrain roof ( tectum mesencephali ). They form a core area made up of layers of gray matter . This division into layers of gray and white matter is otherwise only found in the cortical gray cortex of the cerebrum and cerebellum. The upper four hills are particularly important for the interconnection of optical reflections and play an important role in the development of " saccades ". Functionally, they belong to the "retinectal system" - the connection between the retina and the roof of the midbrain. They are therefore also called Colliculi optici (visual hillocks).
The superior colliculi receive afferents from the retina , the cerebral cortex via the corticotectal tract, the spinal cord via the spinotectal tract and the inferior colliculi . Efferents move to the cranial nerve nuclei , the reticular formation and the spinal cord.
Damage to the superior colliculi does not result in image loss, but rather in the loss of reflective eye movements .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Otto Grosser , arr. by Rolf Ortmann: Outline of the human development history . 6th edition. Springer, Berlin 1966, p. 78.