Cerebral peduncle

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Brain: Cerebral peduncle

Superficial dissection of brain-stem. Ventral view. ("Cerebral peduncle" visible in red at center-right.)

Section through superior colliculus showing path of oculomotor nerve. (Crus cerebri labeled at lower left.)
Latin	pedunculus cerebri
Gray's	subject #188 800
NeuroNames	hier-478
MeSH	Cerebral+Peduncle

The cerebral peduncle, by most classifications, is everything in the mesencephalon except the tectum. The region includes the midbrain tegmentum, crus cerebri, substantia nigra and pretectum. The peduncles are also known as the crus cerebri. There are numerous nerve tracts located within this section of the brainstem.Of note, in the cerebral peduncular loop fibers from motor areas of the brain project to the cerebral peduncle and then project to various thalamic nuclei.

Inasmuch as the peduncles are an anatomic landmark, for details regarding the function of this area interested readers are referred to the individual referenced articles. On a broad scale, though, this area contains many nerve tracts conveying motor information to and from the brain to the rest of the body.