Descending and Reticular Relations to the Vestibular Nuclei: Anatomy

Abstract

The largest contingent of afferents to the vestibular complex comes from the cerebellum. The other major input to the complex is the fibers of the eighth nerve. A more modest contibution is that from the spinal cord. In these inputs, some descending and reticular afferents reach the complex. In this chapter, a description is given of the descending and reticular afferent fibers to the vestibular nuclei. Experimental light microscopical studies have shown that the descending fibers take their origin in the interstitial nucleus of Cajal, pass in the medial longitudinal fasciculus, and reach chiefly the dorsal and caudal parts of the medial vestibular nucleus. The reticular afferents appear to be derived only from the medullary and pontine reticular formations, but details in the pattern of distribution of the fibers within the various vestibular nuclei are not known.