Olivary body

Olivary body
Brain: Olivary body
Gray679.png
The medulla, showing the olivary bodies lying adjacent to the pyramids.
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Transverse section of medulla oblongata below the middle of the olive.
Latin oliva
Gray's subject #187 781
Part of Medulla
MeSH Olivary+Nucleus

In anatomy, the olivary bodies or simply olives (Latin oliva and olivae, singular and plural, respectively) are a pair of prominent oval structures in the medulla oblongata, the lower portion of the brainstem. They contain the olivary nuclei.

Contents

External anatomy

The olivary body is located on the anterior surface of the medulla lateral to the pyramid, from which it is separated by the antero-lateral sulcus and the fibers of the hypoglossal nerve.

Behind, it is separated from the postero-lateral sulcus by the ventral spinocerebellar fasciculus. In the depression between the upper end of the olive and the pons lies the vestibulocochlear nerve.

In humans, it measures about 1.25 cm. in length, and between its upper end and the pons there is a slight depression to which the roots of the facial nerve are attached.

The external arcuate fibers wind across the lower part of the pyramid and olive and enter the inferior peduncle.

Olivary nuclei

The olive consists of two separate parts:

which is a part of the olivo-cerebellar system and is mainly involved in cerebellar motor-learning and function.

  • The superior olivary nucleus is considered part of the pons and is a part of the auditory system, aiding the perception of sound.


The inferior olive in itself is divided to 3 main nuclei:.

  • The primary olivary nucleus (PO) which consist of the major laminar structure.
  • The medial accessory olivary nucleus (MAO) lies between the primary olivary nucleus and the pyramid, and forms a curved lamina, the concavity of which is directed laterally.
  • The dorsal accessory olivary nucleus (DAO) is the smallest, and appears on transverse section as a curved lamina behind the primary olivary nucleus.

small additional inferior olivary structures consist of the dorsal cap of Kooy and the ventrolateral outgrowth.

Additional images

External links


This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Olivary body — Olivary Ol i*va*ry, a. [L. olivarius belonging to olives, fr. oliva an olive: cf. F. olivaire.] (Anat.) Like an olive. [1913 Webster] {Olivary body} (Anat.), an oval prominence on each side of the medulla oblongata; called also {olive}. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • olivary body — n OLIVE (2) * * * oliva …   Medical dictionary

  • olivary body — Anat. one of two oval bodies or prominences composed of nerve tissue, one on each side of the anterior surface of the medulla oblongata. [1830 40] * * * …   Universalium

  • olivary body — noun 1. : inferior olive 2. : superior olive * * * Anat. one of two oval bodies or prominences composed of nerve tissue, one on each side of the anterior surface of the medulla oblongata. [1830 40] …   Useful english dictionary

  • Olivary — Ol i*va*ry, a. [L. olivarius belonging to olives, fr. oliva an olive: cf. F. olivaire.] (Anat.) Like an olive. [1913 Webster] {Olivary body} (Anat.), an oval prominence on each side of the medulla oblongata; called also {olive}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • olivary — /ol euh ver ee/, adj. 1. shaped like an olive. 2. of or pertaining to an olivary body [1535 45; < L olivarius belonging to olives. See OLIVE, ARY] * * * …   Universalium

  • accessory olivary body — noun see accessory nucleus …   Useful english dictionary

  • body — 1. The head, neck, trunk, and extremities. The human b., consisting of head (caput), neck (collum), trunk (truncus), and limbs (membra). 2. The material part of a human, as distinguished from the …   Medical dictionary

  • Superior olivary complex — For the cerebellar structure, see Dentate nucleus. Brain: Superior olivary complex Scheme showing the course of the fibers of the lemniscus; medial lemniscus in blue, lateral in red. (Superior olivary nucleus is labeled at center ri …   Wikipedia

  • Inferior olivary nucleus — Infobox Brain Name = PAGENAME Latin = GraySubject = 187 GrayPage = 781 Caption = Microcircuitry of the cerebellum. Excitatory synapses are denoted by (+) and inhibitory synapses by ( ). MF: Mossy fiber. DCN: Deep cerebellar nuclei. IO: Inferior… …   Wikipedia

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