The emboliform nucleus is a deep cerebellar nucleus that lies immediately to the medial side of the dentate nucleus, partly covering its hilum. It is one of the four pairs of deep cerebellar nuclei, which are from lateral to medial: the dentate, emboliform, globose and fastigial. These nuclei can be seen using Weigert's elastic stain. In lower mammals the emboliform nucleus appears to be continuous with the globose nucleus, and these are known together as the interposed nucleus. ''Emboliform'', from Ancient Greek, means "shaped like a plug or wedge".

Structure

The emboliform nucleus is a wedge-shaped structure of gray matter found at the medial side of the hilum of the dentate nucleus. Its

neuron A neuron (American English), neurone (British English), or nerve cell, is an membrane potential#Cell excitability, excitable cell (biology), cell that fires electric signals called action potentials across a neural network (biology), neural net ...

s display a similar structure from those of the dentate nucleus. In some mammals the emboliform nucleus is continuous with the globose nucleus, forming together the interposed nucleus. When present, the interposed nucleus can be divided in an anterior and a posterior interposed nucleus, considered homologues of the emboliform and globose nuclei, respectively.

Function

The emboliform participates in the spinocerebellum, a system that regulates the precision of limb movements.

Axon An axon (from Greek ἄξων ''áxōn'', axis) or nerve fiber (or nerve fibre: see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences) is a long, slender cellular extensions, projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, ...

s leaving the emboliform exit through the superior cerebellar peduncle and reach the red nucleus in the

midbrain The midbrain or mesencephalon is the uppermost portion of the brainstem connecting the diencephalon and cerebrum with the pons. It consists of the cerebral peduncles, tegmentum, and tectum. It is functionally associated with vision, hearing, mo ...

and several thalamic nuclei which project into areas of the

cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. It is the largest site of Neuron, neural integration in the central nervous system, and plays ...

that control limb movement.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20150621011739/http://www.mona.uwi.edu/fpas/courses/physiology/neurophysiology/Cerebellum.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20080405060224/http://www.lib.mcg.edu/edu/eshuphysio/program/section8/8ch6/s8ch6_30.htm
NIF Search - Emboliform Nucleus
via the

Neuroscience Information Framework The Neuroscience Information Framework is a repository of global neuroscience web resources, including experimental, clinical, and translational neuroscience databases, knowledge bases, atlases, and genetic/ genomic resources and provides many aut ...

{{Authority control Cerebellum