The arbor vitae (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "

tree of life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The ...

") is the

cerebellar The cerebellum (: cerebella or cerebellums; Latin for 'little brain') is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as it or e ...

white matter White matter refers to areas of the central nervous system that are mainly made up of myelinated axons, also called Nerve tract, tracts. Long thought to be passive tissue, white matter affects learning and brain functions, modulating the distr ...

, so called for its branched, tree-like appearance. In some ways it more resembles a fern and is present in both

cerebellar hemispheres The cerebellum consists of three parts, a median and two lateral, which are continuous with each other, and are substantially the same in structure. The median portion is constricted, and is called the vermis, from its annulated appearance which ...

. It brings sensory and motor information to and from the

cerebellum The cerebellum (: cerebella or cerebellums; Latin for 'little brain') is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as it or eve ...

. The arbor vitae is located deep in the cerebellum. Situated within the arbor vitae are the

deep cerebellar nuclei There are four paired deep cerebellar nuclei embedded in the white matter centre of the cerebellum. The nuclei are the fastigial, globose, emboliform, and dentate nuclei. In lower mammals the emboliform nucleus appears to be continuous with t ...

; the dentate,

globose This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

, emboliform and the fastigial nuclei. These four different structures lead to the efferent projections of the cerebellum.

Additional Images

File:Arbor vitae by Sanjoy Sanyal.webm, Dissection video (1 min 14 s). Describing the arbor vitae. File:Midline sagittal view of the brainstem and cerebellum - Arbor vitae.png, Midsagittal section of the brainstem. File:Slide2qq.JPG, Midsagittal section of the brainstem. Arbor vitae labelled at the center. File:Sobo 1909 648.png, Midsagittal section of the brainstem. File:Sobo 1909 657.png, Coronal section of the cerebellum. File:1612 Cerebellar Peduncles-02.jpg, Arbor vitae and

cerebellar peduncle The cerebellar peduncles are three paired bundles of Axon, fibres that connect the cerebellum to the brain stem. * Superior cerebellar peduncle is a paired structure of white matter that connects the cerebellum to the mid-brain. * Middle cereb ...

References

External links

* Cerebellar connections {{neuroanatomy-stub