Solitary nucleus

Information about Solitary nucleus

Brain:
The cranial nerve nuclei schematically represented; dorsal view. Motor nuclei in red; sensory in blue.
Transverse section of medulla oblongata of human embryo.
Latintractus solitarius medullae oblongatae
NeuroNameshier-739
MeSH Solitary+Nucleus
Dorlands/Elsevier t_15/12817166
The solitary nucleus and tract are structures in the brainstem that carry and receive visceral sensation and taste from the facial (VII), glossopharyngeal (IX), vagus (X) cranial nerves, as well as the cranial part of the accessory nerve (XI).

Anatomy

The nucleus is located along the length of the medulla (with a small portion in the lower pons). The solitary tract runs in the middle of the nucleus, creating a speck of white matter (axons of the tract), surrounded by grey matter (the nucleus). This stands out on a stained section, which is where the name solitary comes from.

The solitary nucleus is divided into a rostral (towards the top) gustatory nucleus and caudal (towards the bottom) cardiorespiratory nucleus. The cardiorespiratory nucleus can be further divided into a cardiovascular center, which sits at the midline of the nucleus, and a respiratory center, which is located laterally.

Inputs to the solitary nucleus

In addition to afferent taste information from nerves VII, IX and X, the solitary nucleus also handles primary afferent signals from a variety of visceral regions and organs. These afferents include chemoreceptors in the carotid (via IX) and aortic bodies (via X) as well as stretch receptors from the aorta and carotid arteries called arterial baroreceptors. In addition, chemically and mechanically sensitive neurons with endings located in the heart, lungs, airways, gastrointestinal system, liver and other viscera send axons via cranial nerves (IX and X) chiefly that directly enter the brainstem to form synapses within the caudal third of the solitary nucleus. Neurons that synapse in this nucleus mediate the gag reflex, the carotid sinus reflex, the aortic reflex, the cough reflex, the baroreceptor and chemoreceptor reflexes, several respiratory reflexes and reflexes within the gastrointestinal system regulating motility and secretion. Information about the gut wall, as well as stretch of the lungs and dryness of mucous membranes, also synapses at the solitary nucleus. These first central neurons within the solitary nucleus can participate in autonomic reflexes that may be as simple as two central neurons with the second neuron being an efferent or motor neuron that projects back directly to the organ such as the heart forming some of the simplest reflex pathways in the brain.

Outputs from the solitary nucleus

Most information goes from the solitary nucleus to the hypothalamus and cingulate gyrus, as well as to other nuclei in the brainstem (such as visceral motor or respiratory centers).

Additional images


Section of the medulla oblongata at about the middle of the olive.

Nuclei of origin of cranial motor nerves schematically represented; lateral view.

Primary terminal nuclei of the afferent (sensory) cranial nerves schematically represented; lateral view.


External links

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Brain: rhombencephalon (hindbrain)
Myelencephalon/medulla
anterior/ventral: Arcuate nucleus of medulla • Pyramid (Decussation) • Olivary body • Inferior olivary nucleus • Anterior median fissure • Ventral respiratory group posterior/dorsal: VII,IX,X: Solitary/tract • XII, X: Dorsal • IX,X,XI: Ambiguus • IX: Inferior salivatory nucleus • Gracile nucleus/Cuneate nucleus/Accessory cuneate nucleus • Area postrema • Posterior median sulcus • Dorsal respiratory group raphe/reticular: Sensory decussation • Reticular formation (Gigantocellular nucleus, Parvocellular reticular nucleus, Ventral reticular nucleus, Lateral reticular nucleus, Paramedian reticular nucleus) • Raphe nuclei (Obscurus, Magnus, Pallidus) tracts: Corticospinal tract (Lateral, Anterior) • Inferior cerebellar peduncle • Olivocerebellar tract • Spinocerebellar (Dorsal, Ventral) • Spinothalamic tract • PCML (Posterior external arcuate fibers, Internal arcuate fibers, Medial lemniscus) • Extrapyramidal (Rubrospinal tract, Vestibulospinal tract, Tectospinal tract)
Metencephalon/pons
Metencephalon/cerebellumVermis • Flocculus • Arbor vitae • Cerebellar tonsil • Inferior medullary velum
Molecular layer (Stellate cell, Basket cell, Parallel fiber) • Purkinje cell layer (Purkinje cell) • Granule cell layer (Golgi cell) • Mossy fibers • Climbing fiber
Deep cerebellar nuclei (Dentate, Emboliform, Globose, Fastigial)
Fourth ventricleapertures (Median, Lateral) • Rhomboid fossa (Vagal trigone, Hypoglossal trigone, Obex, Sulcus limitans, Facial colliculus, Medial eminence) • Lateral recess
A cranial nerve nucleus is a collection of neurons (gray matter) in the brain stem that is associated with one or more cranial nerves. Axons carrying information to and from the cranial nerves form a synapse first at these nuclei.
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The medulla oblongata is the lower portion of the brainstem.

Location

By anatomical terms of location, it is rostral to the spinal cord and caudal to the pons, which is in turn ventral to the cerebellum.
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Please help recruit one or [ improve this article] yourself. See the talk page for details.
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Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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NeuroNames is a system of nomenclature for the human and/or macaque brain.

It is maintained by the University of Washington and is a part of a tool called "BrainInfo". BrainInfo helps one identify structures in the brain.
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Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a huge controlled vocabulary (or metadata system) for the purpose of indexing journal articles and books in the life sciences. Created and updated by the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), it is used by the MEDLINE/PubMed
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Elsevier, the world's largest publisher of medical and scientific literature, forms part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has substantial operations in the UK, USA and elsewhere.
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The brain stem is the lower part of the brain, adjoining and structurally continuous with the spinal cord. Most sources consider the pons, medulla oblongata, and midbrain all to be part of the brainstem.
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Taste (or more formally, gustation) is a form of direct chemoreception and is one of the traditional five senses. It refers to the ability to detect the flavor of substances such as food and poisons.
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The facial nerve is the seventh (VII) of twelve paired cranial nerves. It emerges from the brainstem between the pons and the medulla, and controls the muscles of facial expression, and taste to the anterior two-thirds of the tongue.
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The glossopharyngeal nerve is the ninth of twelve pairs of cranial nerves. It exits the brainstem out from the sides of the upper medulla, just rostral (closer to the nose) to the vagus nerve.
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The vagus nerve (also called pneumogastric nerve or cranial nerve X) is the tenth of twelve paired cranial nerves, and is the only nerve that starts in the brainstem (within the medulla oblongata) and extends, through the jugular foramen, down below the head, to the
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Cranial nerves are nerves that emerge directly from the brain in contrast to spinal nerves which emerge from segments of the spinal cord. Although thirteen cranial nerves in humans fit this description, twelve are conventionally recognized.
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In anatomy, the accessory nerve is a nerve that controls specific muscles of the neck. As a part of it is traditionally believed to originate in the brain, it is considered a cranial nerve.
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The pons (sometimes pons Varolii after Costanzo Varolio) is a structure located on the brain stem. It is rostral to the medulla oblongata, caudal to the midbrain, and ventral to the cerebellum.
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White matter is one of the three main solid components of the central nervous system designated by color. The other two are gray matter and substantia nigra.

Structure


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The carotid body (or carotid glomus) is a small cluster of chemoreceptors and supporting cells located near the bifurcation of the carotid artery.

It measures changes in the composition of arterial blood flowing through it, mainly the partial pressure of oxygen, but
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In the human heart, the aortic body is one of several small cluster of chemoreceptors, baroreceptors, and supporting cells located along the aortic arch.

Function


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lungs flank the heart and great vessels in the chest cavity.[1]]]

The lung is the essential respiration organ in air-breathing vertebrates, the most primitive being the lungfish.
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The mucous membranes (or mucosae; singular: mucosa) are linings of mostly endodermal origin, covered in epithelium, and are involved in absorption and secretion. They line various body cavities that are exposed to the external environment and internal organs.
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synapse. Synapses allow nerve cells to communicate with one another through axons and dendrites, converting electrical impulses into chemical signals.]]

Chemical synapses
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The hypothalamus links the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland (hypophysis). The hypothalamus, (from Greek ὑποθαλαμος = under the thalamus) is located below the thalamus, just above the brain stem.
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Cingulate gyrus (lat. belt ridge) is a gyrus in the medial part of the brain. It partially wraps around the corpus callosum and is limited above by the cingulate sulcus.

The cortical part of the cingulate gyrus is referred to as cingulate cortex.
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BrainMaps is an NIH-funded interactive zoomable high-resolution digital brain atlas and virtual microscope that is based on more than 20 million megapixels (50 terabytes) of scanned images of serial sections of both primate and non-primate brains and that is integrated with a
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In animals, the brain or encephalon (Greek for "in the skull"), is the control center of the central nervous system, responsible for behavior. The brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing,
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The rhombencephalon (or hindbrain) is a developmental categorization of portions of the central nervous system in vertebrates.

The rhombencephalon can be subdivided in a variable number of transversal swellings called rhombomeres.
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The myelencephalon is a developmental categorization of a portion of the central nervous system. The myelencephalon is composed of the medulla oblongata; contains a portion of the fourth ventricle; as well as the glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX), vagus nerve (CN X), accessory nerve
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The medulla oblongata is the lower portion of the brainstem.

Location

By anatomical terms of location, it is rostral to the spinal cord and caudal to the pons, which is in turn ventral to the cerebellum.
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arcuate nucleus is a group of neurons located on the anterior surface of the medullary pyramids. They receive fibers from the corticospinal tract and send their axons through the external arcuate fibers and striae medullares to the cerebellum via the inferior cerebellar peduncle.
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The interior district of the medulla oblongata is named the pyramid and lies between the anterior median fissure and the antero-lateral sulcus.

Its upper end is slightly constricted, and between it and the pons the fibers of the abducent nerve emerge; a little below the
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