Cuneate nucleus

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Brain: Cuneate nucleus
Dissection of brain-stem. Dorsal view. (Label for "nucleus cuneatus" is on left, third from the bottom.)
Section of the medulla oblongata at about the middle of the olive.
Latin nucleus cuneatus
Gray's subject #187 774
NeuroNames hier-764
Dorlands/Elsevier n_11/12580900

One of the dorsal column nuclei, the cuneate nucleus is a wedge-shaped nucleus in the closed part of the medulla oblongata. It contains cells that give rise to the cuneate tubercle, visible on the posterior aspect of the medulla. It lies laterally to the gracile nucleus and medial to the spinal trigeminal nucleus in the medulla.

The cuneate nucleus is part of dorsal column-medial lemniscus system, carrying fine touch and proprioceptive information to the thalamus and cerebellum.

It may be affected by vitamin E deficiency exhibiting neuroaxonal swelling.

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Rhombencephalon (hindbrain)

MYELENCEPHALON/MEDULLA: arcuate nucleus of medulla, solitary nucleus, hypoglossal nucleus, nucleus ambiguus, olivary body, inferior olivary nucleus, cuneate nucleus, accessory cuneate nucleus, gracile nucleus, inferior salivatory nucleus, raphe nuclei (obscurus, magnus, pallidus), area postrema, posterior nucleus of vagus nerve

METENCEPHALON/CEREBELLUM: cerebellar vermis, flocculus, arbor vitae

METENCEPHALON/PONS: pontine tegmentum, superior salivary nucleus, trapezoid body, pontine nuclei (superior olivary nucleus, trigeminal nerve nuclei, abducens nucleus, facial motor nucleus, cochlear nuclei, vestibular nuclei), locus ceruleus, paramedian pontine reticular formation, nucleus centralis superior

FOURTH VENTRICLE: obex, median aperture