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Home  »  Anatomy of the Human Body  »  pages 836

Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.

pages 836

gray cortex, continuous with that of the uncus; in front it is continuous with the putamen, behind with the stria terminalis and the tail of the caudate nucleus.
  The internal capsule (capsula interna) (Figs. 745, 746) is a flattened band of white fibers, between the lentiform nucleus on the lateral side and the caudate nucleus and thalamus on the medial side. In horizontal section (Figs. 742) it is seen to be somewhat abruptly curved, with its convexity inward; the prominence of the curve is called the genu, and projects between the caudate nucleus and the thalamus. The portion in front of the genu is termed the frontal part, and separates the lentiform from the caudate nucleus; the portion behind the genu is the occipital part, and separates the lentiform nucleus from the thalamus.


FIG. 744– Coronal section of brain through anterior commissure. (See enlarged image)
  The frontal part of the internal capsule contains: (1) fibers running from the thalamus to the frontal lobe; (2) fibers connecting the lentiform and caudate nuclei; (3) fibers connecting the cortex with the corpus striatum; and (4) fibers passing from the frontal lobe through the medial fifth of the base of the cerebral peduncle to the nuclei pontis. The fibers in the region of the genu are named the geniculate fibers; they originate in the motor part of the cerebral cortex, and, after passing downward through the base of the cerebral peduncle with the cerebrospinal fibers, undergo decussation and end in the motor nuclei of the cranial nerves of the opposite side. The anterior two-thirds of the occipital part of the internal capsule contains the cerebrospinal fibers, which arise in the motor area of the cerebral cortex and, passing downward through the middle three-fifths of the base of the cerebral peduncle, are continued into the pyramids of the medulla oblongata. The posterior third of the occipital part contains: (1) sensory fibers, largely derived from the thalamus, though some may be continued upward from