Fastigial nucleus

The fastigial nuclei is situated atop the roof of the fourth ventricle (thence its name: "fastigus" is Latin for "summit").{{Cite book |last=Patestas |first=Maria A. |title=A Textbook of Neuroanatomy |last2=Gartner |first2=Leslie P. |date= |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-118-67746-9 |edition=2nd |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |pages=291-292}}

The fastigial nucleus is a mass of gray matter nearest to the middle line at the anterior end of the superior vermis, immediately over the roof of the fourth ventricle (the peak of which is called the fastigium), from which it is separated by a thin layer of white matter.{{cite web |author=John K. Harting |year=1997 |title=The Global Cerebellum '97 |url=http://www.neuroanatomy.wisc.edu/cere/text/P5/S/C50.htm |access-date=2007-06-28 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Medical School}}

It is smaller than the dentate nucleus, but somewhat larger than the emboliform nucleus and globose nucleus.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The fastigial nucleus receives afferents from the vestibulocerebellar tract (containing first-order axons from the vestibular nerve as well as second-order axons from the vestibular nuclei), and from Purkinje cells of the vestibulocerebellum cortex.

The fastigial nucleus projects efferents to: the medial, lateral and inferior vestibular nuclei, reticular formation, ventral lateral nucleus of thalamus, and cerebellar cortex. It gives rise to fastigiovestibular fibres, and fastigioreticular fibres: both leave the cerebellum via the juxtarestiform body of the inferior cerebellar peduncle.

• fastigiovestibular fibres project principally to the lateral and inferior vestibular nuclei to influence the vestibulospinal tract bilaterally;
• fastigioreticular fibres project to the (pontine and medullary) reticular formation to influence the reticulospinal tracts (bilaterally, but mainly contralaterally).

Through the vestibulospinal and reticulospinal tracts, the fastigial efferents are involved in regulation of balance and posture as well as axial and proximal limb musculature activity.

The rostral fastigial nucleus (rFN) is related to the vestibular system. It receives input from the vestibular nuclei and contributes to vestibular neuronal activity. The rFN interprets body motion and places it on spatial planes to estimate the movement of the body through space.Brooks & Cullen, [Multimodal integration in rostral fastigial nucleus provides an estimate of body movement], 2009 It deals with antigravity muscle groups and other synergies involved with standing and walking.{{cite book|title=Neurology for the Boards|author1=James D. Geyer |author2=Janice M. Keating |author3=Daniel C. Potts |publisher=Lippincott-Raven|year=1998|location=Philadelphia|page=9}}

The caudal fastigial nucleus (cFN) is related to saccadic eye movements. The Purkinje cell output from the oculomotor vermis relays through the cFN, where neurons directly related to saccadic eye movements are located.Kleine, Guan, & Buttner, [Saccade-related neurons in the primate fastigial nucleus: what do they encode?], 2003

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070817230907/http://www.online-medical-dictionary.org/Nucleus+Fastigius.asp?q=Nucleus+Fastigius Online Medical Dictionary entry]

{{Reflist}}

• {{NeuroanatomyWisc|cere/text/P5/fastig.htm}}
• https://web.archive.org/web/20150621011739/http://www.mona.uwi.edu/fpas/courses/physiology/neurophysiology/Cerebellum.htm
• https://web.archive.org/web/20080405062814/http://www.lib.mcg.edu/edu/eshuphysio/program/section8/8ch6/s8ch6_29.htm
• [https://www.neuinfo.org/mynif/search.php?q=Fastigial%20Nucleus&t=data&s=cover&b=0&r=20 NIF Search - Fastigial Nucleus] via the Neuroscience Information Framework

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Category:Cerebellum