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2-Minute Neuroscience: Pons
- Subjects: Neurosciences
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- brainstem
- medulla
- cerebellum
- basal pons
Video Introduction
This video is adapted from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEep2XcAYo0
The pons is one of the major divisions of the brainstem. It contains a large number of tracts and nuclei. In this video, I highlight some of the more notable of these.[1]
The pons is a major division of the brainstem. It is found above the medulla and below the midbrain. Pons is Latin for bridge, and it was so named because the anterior part of the pons, which is known as the basal or basilar pons, causes the pons to look like a bridge that connects the two hemispheres of the cerebellum. The region behind the basal pons is called the pontine tegmentum or dorsal pons. The pons contains many tracts and nuclei. This video will highlight just some of the more notable of these.
The basal pons doesn’t form a direct connection between the cerebellar hemispheres, but the pons is attached to the cerebellum by the middle cerebellar peduncles, a major pathway between the brainstem and cerebellum. The inferior cerebellar peduncles also travel through the pons to carry information to the cerebellum, and the superior cerebellar peduncles enter the brainstem at the level of the pons and carry information from the cerebellum to the brainstem.
The pons forms most of the floor of the fourth ventricle, and is home to several cranial nerve nuclei, including the trigeminal nuclei, which are involved with sensory and motor functions of the head and face, the abducens nucleus, which controls lateral movements of the eye, the facial motor nucleus, which controls muscles of facial expression, and the vestibular nuclei, which process vestibular information. The pons also contains the locus coeruleus, the largest collection of norepinephrine-containing neurons in the brain, and some of the raphe nuclei, the major serotonin-producing neurons of the brain.
The pons also serves as a conduit for many tracts passing up and down through the brainstem, like the corticospinal tract for voluntary movement, medial lemniscus for tactile and proprioceptive sensations, and spinothalamic tract for pain and temperature sensations.
References
- Vanderah TW, Gould DJ. Nolte's The Human Brain. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2016.
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Challenged, N. 2-Minute Neuroscience: Pons. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/video/video_detail/1157 (accessed on 21 December 2024).
Challenged N. 2-Minute Neuroscience: Pons. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/video/video_detail/1157. Accessed December 21, 2024.
Challenged, Neuroscientifically. "2-Minute Neuroscience: Pons" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/video/video_detail/1157 (accessed December 21, 2024).
Challenged, N. (2024, April 03). 2-Minute Neuroscience: Pons. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/video/video_detail/1157
Challenged, Neuroscientifically. "2-Minute Neuroscience: Pons." Encyclopedia. Web. 03 April, 2024.
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