Edinger-Westphal nucleus

From Psychology Wiki

Brain: Edinger-Westphal nucleus
Section through superior colliculus (unlabeled) showing path of oculomotor nerve. ("Edinger-Westphal nucleus" is not on diagram, but would be near oculomotor nuclei.)
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BrainInfo/UW	hier-489
MeSH	[1]

The Edinger-Westphal nucleus is the accessory parasympathetic cranial nerve nucleus of the oculomotor nerve (cranial nerve III), supplying the constricting muscles of the iris. The paired nuclei are posterior to the main motor nucleus and anterolateral to the cerebral aqueduct in the rostral midbrain at the level of the superior colliculus. It is the most rostral of the parasympathetic nuclei in the brain stem.

The Edinger-Westphal nucleus supplies preganglionic parasympathetic fibers to the eye, constricting the pupil and accommodating the lens.

The nucleus is named for both Ludwig Edinger, who demonstrated it in the fetus in 1885, and for Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal, who demonstrated it in the adult in 1887.

[edit] External links

• GPnotebook -248184792
• Who Named It synd/893
• Diagram at Columbia
• Diagram at Loyola
• Description at Yale

Mesencephalon (midbrain)

cerebral peduncle: midbrain tegmentum (periaqueductal gray, ventral tegmentum, nucleus raphe dorsalis), pretectum, substantia nigra, red nucleus, pedunculopontine nucleus, medial longitudinal fasciculus, medial lemniscus, rubrospinal tract, lateral lemniscus tectum: corpora quadrigemina, inferior colliculi, superior colliculi cerebral aqueduct: oculomotor nucleus, trochlear nucleus, Edinger-Westphal nucleus

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This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Edinger-Westphal nucleus. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.