Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
pages 863
| Rolando and continues in this position lateral to the fasciculus cuneatus as far as the upper part of the cervical region where it disappears. |
| The cells of the sensory nucleus are of large and medium size and send their axons into the formatio reticularis where they form a distinct bundle, the central path of the trigeminal (trigeminothalamic tract), which passes upward through the formatio reticularis and tegmentum to the ventro-lateral part of the thalamus. Most of the fibers cross to the trigeminothalamic tract of the opposite side. This tract lies dorsal to the medial fillet; approaches close to it in the tegmentum and terminates in a distinct part of the thalamus. From the thalamus impulses are conveyed to the somatic sensory area of the cortex by axons of cells in the thalamus through the internal capsule and corona radiata. Many collaterals are given off in the medulla and pass from the trigeminothalamic tract to the motor nuclei, especially to the nucleus ambiguus, the facial nucleus and the motor nucleus of the trigeminal. |
| The somatic sensory fibers of the vagus, the glossopharyngeal and the facial nerves probably end in the nucleus of the descending tract of the trigeminal and their cortical impulses are probably carried up in the central sensory path of the trigeminal. |
| The mesencephalic root (descending root of the trigeminal) arises from unipolar cells arranged in scattered groups in a column at the lateral edge of the central gray matter surrounding the upper end of the fourth ventricle and the cerebral aqueduct. They have usually been considered as motor fibers that join the motor root, but Johnston claims that they join the sensory root of the trigeminal, that they develop in the alar, not in the basal lamina, and that the pear-shaped unipolar cells are sensory in type. |
| The Trochlear Nerve (IV cranial) contains somatic motor fibers only. It supplies the superior oblique muscle of the eye. Its nucleus of origin, trochlear nucleus, is a small, oval mass situated in the ventral part of the central gray matter of the cerebral aqueduct at the level of the upper part of the inferior colliculus. The axons from the nucleus pass downward in the tegmentum toward the pons, but turn abruptly dorsalward before reaching it, and pass into the superior medullary velum, in which they cross horizontally, to decussate with the nerve of the opposite side, and emerges from the surface of the velum, immediately behind the inferior colliculus. The cells of the trochlear nucleus are large, irregular and yellowish in color. The nuclei of the two sides are separated by the raphé through which dendrites extend from one nucleus to the other. They receive many collaterals and terminals from the posterior longitudinal bundle which lies on the ventral side of the nucleus. |
| There are no branches from the fibers of the pyramidal tracts to these nuclei; the volitional pathway must be an indirect one, as is the case with other motor nuclei. |
| The Oculomotor Nerve (III cranial) contains somatic motor fibers to the Obliquus inferior, Rectus inferior, Rectus superior, Levator palpebræ superioris and Rectus medialis muscles and sympathetic efferent fibers (preganglionic fibers) to the ciliary ganglion. The postganglionic fibers connected with these supply the ciliary muscle and the sphincter of the iris. The axons arise from the nucleus of the oculomotor nerve and pass in bundles through the posterior longitudinal bundle, the tegmentum, the red nucleus and the medial margin of the substantia nigra in a series of curves and finally emerge from the oculomotor sulcus on the medial side of the cerebral peduncle. |
| The oculomotor nucleus lies in the gray substance of the floor of the cerebral aqueduct subjacent to the superior colliculus and extends in front of the aqueduct a short distance into the floor of the third ventricle. The inferior end is continuous with the trochlear nucleus. It is from 6 to 10 mm. in length. It is intimately |