Nuclei vestibulares

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The vestibular nuclei , vestibular nuclei or vestibular nuclei form a core complex of four main core areas on each side and some smaller additional core groups in the dorsal hindbrain ( rhombencephalon ). In humans, they are located medial to the lower cerebellar stalk , in the vestibular area of the lozenge , i.e. in the elongated medulla ( medulla oblongata ) and in the caudal area of ​​the bridge ( pons ) under the floor of the fourth ventricle, approximately at the level of the entry of the eighth cranial nerve . The essential part of the primary afferents (first afferent neuron ) of secondary sensory cells ( hair cells ) of the vestibular organ , i.e. nerve fibers of the vestibular part ( pars vestibularis ) of the eighth cranial nerve ( vestibulocochlear nerve ) or vestibular nerve, go to these vestibular nuclei .

In detail one differentiates as the four main nuclei

  • Nucleus vestibularis rostralis (superior) ( Bechterew core)
  • Nucleus vestibularis lateralis ( Deiters core)
  • Nucleus vestibularis medialis ( swallow core)
  • Nucleus vestibularis caudalis (inferior) (roller core)

At afferents nuclear complex receives all except the primärafferenten vestibular - of the three semicircular canals ( ampullary crests ) and the two maculae of utricle and saccule of the vestibular system in the vestibular portion of the inner ear the same page - different cerebellar projections of cerebellar -Anteilen to coordinate gaze and Support motor skills , as spinal afferents also primary afferents of the proprioceptors of the deep throat and neck muscles as well as u. a. also visual information via afferents from the upper mound of the midbrain.

The different core areas of one side are connected via efferents not only to each other and partly via commissures to the other side, but also to various other regions of the brain as well as the spinal cord , so with

  • medullary and pontine formatio reticularis from all vestibular main nuclei (vestibulo-reticular),
  • archi- and palaeocerebellar parts of the cerebellum (especially flocculus , nodulus and uvula ), which in addition to these secondary also receive primary vestibulo-cerebellar inflows and are summarized under this aspect as vestibulocerebellum ,
  • Eye muscle nuclei ( Nucleus nervi oculomotorii , Nucleus nervi trochlearis and Nucleus nervi abducentis ) and accessory nuclei of the midbrain ( Nucleus interstitialis Cajal), mainly via the medial longitudinal bundle ( Fasciculus longitudinalis medialis ),
  • various motor neurons of the spinal cord of different segments on the lateral and medial vestibulo-spinal web ( Tractus lateral vestibular or medial ), both directly and through spinal neurons,
  • special core areas ( nuclei ventrales posterioinferior , ventrales posterolateralis , lateralis thalami ) of the thalamus as a specific projection - in addition to the unspecific over the ascending reticular system (ARS, see also ARAS ) - and from there as a central equilibrium path to two areas of the cerebral cortex (cortex cerebri) which are obviously important for conscious perceptions of our position in space (areas 2v and 3a of the somatosensory cortex ).