Inferior olivary nucleus
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Palipana D, Jones J, Sharma R, et al. Inferior olivary nucleus. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 16 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-58899
rID:
58899
Article created:
12 Mar 2018,
Dinesh Palipana
Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Dinesh Palipana had no recorded disclosures.
View Dinesh Palipana's current disclosures
Last revised:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Jeremy Jones had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Jeremy Jones's current disclosures
Revisions:
10 times, by
9 contributors -
see full revision history and disclosures
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Synonyms:
- ION
The inferior olivary nuclei (or ION) are two C-shaped nuclei located within the medulla oblongata, implicated in motor coordination.
Gross anatomy
The inferior olivary nuclei are located in the superior medulla, just below the pons. They are an irregular mass of crenated C-shaped grey matter, with a medially-directed hilum. A large number of fibres travel to and from the nucleus via the hilum. The open side of the C-shape faces the opposite inferior cerebellar peduncle.
The inferior olivary nucleus has prominent connections to the cerebellum. These small neurones form the olivocerebellar tract. Fibres decussate across the midline to enter the inferior cerebellar peduncle.
The superior olivary nuclei are smaller and are located in the pons.
Function
The inferior olivary nuclei are implicated in motor coordination. They may have oscillatory-pacemaking functions, and play a role in the pathogenesis of essential tremor.
Related pathology
References
- 1. Andrew M. Colman. A Dictionary of Psychology. (2015) ISBN: 9780199657681 - Google Books
- 2. Louis E, Babij R, Cortés E, Vonsattel J, Faust P. The Inferior Olivary Nucleus: A Postmortem Study of Essential Tremor Cases Versus Controls. Mov Disord. 2013;28(6):779-86. doi:10.1002/mds.25400 - Pubmed
- 3. Susan Standring, Henry Gray. Gray's Anatomy. (2008) ISBN: 9780808923718 - Google Books
- 4. Chummy S. Sinnatamby. Last's Anatomy. (2011) ISBN: 9780702033957 - Google Books
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