The midbrain reticular formation (MRF), also known as reticular formation of midbrain, mesencephalic reticular formation, tegmental reticular formation, and formatio reticularis (tegmenti) mesencephali, is a structure in the

midbrain The midbrain or mesencephalon is the forward-most portion of the brainstem and is associated with vision, hearing, motor control, sleep and wakefulness, arousal (alertness), and temperature regulation. The name comes from the Greek ''mesos'', " ...

consisting of the

dorsal tegmental nucleus The dorsal tegmental nucleus (DTN), also known as dorsal tegmental nucleus of Gudden (DTg), is a group of neurons located in the brain stem, which are involved in spatial navigation and orientation. Anatomy The dorsal tegmental nucleus is located ...

ventral tegmental nucleus Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

, and

cuneiform nucleus Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

. These are also known as the tegmental nuclei.NeuroNames
tegmental nuclei
BrainInfo. Accessed January 25, 2011. The dorsal and ventral tegmental nuclei receive connections from the mammillo-tegmental ''bundle of Gudden'', a branch of the

mammillothalamic tract The mammillothalamic tract (mammillothalamic fasciculus, thalamomammillary fasciculus, bundle of Vicq d’Azyr) arises from cells in both the medial and lateral nuclei of the mammillary body and by fibers that are directly continued from the forn ...

. The bundle of Gudden might be identical to the

hypothalamotegmental tract In human neuroanatomy, the hypothalamotegmental tract is a pathway from the hypothalamus to the reticular formation. Axons from the posterior hypothalamus descend through the mesencephalic and pontine reticular formations. They connect with ret ...

. Along with the

oral pontine reticular nucleus The oral pontine reticular nucleus, or rostral pontine reticular nucleus, is delineated from the caudal pontine reticular nucleus. This nucleus tapers into the lower mesencephalic reticular formation and contains sporadic giant cells. Different po ...

, the midbrain

reticular formation The reticular formation is a set of interconnected nuclei that are located throughout the brainstem. It is not anatomically well defined, because it includes neurons located in different parts of the brain. The neurons of the reticular formation ...

projects to the

gigantocellular reticular nucleus The gigantocellular reticular nucleus (Gi) is a subregion of the medullary reticular formation. As the name indicates, it consists mainly of so-called giant neuronal cells. This nucleus has been known to innervate the caudal hypoglossal nucleus, ...

. The midbrain reticular formation is the point at which the different

algedonic signal An algedonic signal is a pre-emptive message concerning pleasure or pain. An arousal mechanism can generate an algedonic signal, and thus provide an important survival mechanism to a living organism by alerting it to a threat. An example of the disa ...

s come together, ensuring that the organism is aware of potential threats.

References

External links

NeuroNames ''NeuroNames'' is an integrated nomenclature for structures in the brain and spinal cord of the four species most studied by neuroscientists: human, macaque, rat and mouse. It offers a standard, controlled vocabulary of common names for structur ...

-
midbrain reticular formation
Midbrain {{neuroanatomy-stub

See also

References

External links