| cranial vertebra | A segment of the skull regarded as homologous with a segment of the vertebral column. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| posterior cranial fossa | The internal base of the skull posterior to the crest of the petrous part of the temporal bones and the dorsum sellae and anterior to the grooves for the transverse sinuses, where the cerebellum, pons, and medulla oblongata rest. Synonym: fossa cranii posterior. (05 Mar 2000) |
| prophylactic cranial irradiation | Radiation therapy to the head to prevent cancer from spreading to the brain. (12 Dec 1998) |
| detached cranial section | Craniotomy with section of cranium separated from its soft tissue attachments. Synonym: detached cranial section. (05 Mar 2000) |
| dystonia, cranial | A term used to describe dystonia that affects the muscles of the head, face, and neck. Oromandibular dystonia affects the muscles of the jaw, lips, and tongue. The jaw may be pulled either open or shut, and speech and swallowing can be difficult. Spasmodic dysphonia involves the muscles of the throat that control speech. Also called spastic dysphonia or laryngeal dystonia, it causes strained and difficult speaking or breathy and effortful speech. Meige's syndrome is the combination of blepharospasm and oromandibular dystonia and sometimes spasmodic dysphonia. Spasmodic torticollis can be classified as a type of cranial dystonia. (12 Dec 1998) |
| accessory olivary nuclei | See: dorsal accessory olivary nucleus, medial accessory olivary nucleus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anterior nuclei of thalamus | Collective term for three groups of nerve cells which together form the anterior thalamic tubercle: the anteroventral nuclei, a relatively large nucleus; the anteromedial nuclei; and the anterodorsal nuclei, a small (but large-celled) nucleus. The nuclei receive the mamillothalamic tract from the mamillary body, and additional afferents by way of the fornix; they project collectively to the cortex of the cingulate and parahippocampal gyrus. Synonym: nuclei anteriores thalami. (05 Mar 2000) |
| arcuate nuclei | A variable assembly of small cell groups, probably outlying components of the pontine nuclei, on the ventral and medial aspects of the pyramid in the medulla oblongata. Synonym: nuclei arcuati. (05 Mar 2000) |
| autonomic nuclei | Nuclei located in the spinal cord (T1-L2, S2-S4) and in the brainstem (Edinger-Westphal nucleus, superior and inferior salivatory nuclei, dorsal vagal nucleus and parts of the ambiguus nucleus) from which general visceral efferent preganglionic fibres arise; may be sympathetic (T1-L2) or parasympathetic (craniosacral); hypothalamic nuclei/areas function in concert with autonomic nuclei. (05 Mar 2000) |
| basal nuclei | Nucleus of the cerebral hemisphere that originally included the caudate and lenticular nuclei, the claustrum and the amygdaloid body (complex); functionally the term basal nuclei now specifies the caudate and lenticular nuclei and adjacent cell groups having important connections therewith (subthalamic nucleus; substantia nigra, partes compacta and reticulata); amygdaloid complex now known to be part of the limbic system. Synonym: nuclei basales. (05 Mar 2000) |
| branchiomotor nuclei | Collective term for those motoneuronal nuclei of the brainstem (n. Ambiguus, facial motor nucleus, motor nucleus of the trigeminus) that develop from the branchiomotor column of the embryo and innervate striated muscle fibres (muscles of mastication, facial musculature, pharynx and vocal cord muscles) developed from the mesenchyme of the branchial arches. Synonym: special visceral efferent nuclei, special visceral motor nuclei. (05 Mar 2000) |
| caput nuclei caudati | The head or anterior extremity of the caudate nucleus projecting into the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle. Synonym: caput nuclei caudati, anterior extremity of caudate nucleus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| rami caudae nuclei caudati | Branches to the tail of the caudate nucleus. Branches from either the anterior choroid or the posterior communicating artery, or both, to supply the tail of the caudate nucleus, a branch from the middle cerebral artery to the tail of the caudate nucleus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| venae nuclei caudati | Small veins from the caudate nucleus draining into the superior thalamostriate vein. Synonym: veins of caudate nucleus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| parabrachial nuclei | The cell groups flanking the brachium conjunctivum at levels immediately caudal to the inferior colliculus; they serve as way-stations in the pathways ascending from the nucleus of solitary tract to the thalamus and hypothalamus, and receive afferent fibres from the hypothalamus and amygdaloid body. Synonym: nuclei parabrachiales. (05 Mar 2000) |