Table of Contents
Neuroanatomy of the Oculomotor System
Supranuclear Pathways
- Frontal Eye Fields
- Saccades originate here on the contralateral side of the direction of the saccade
- Left Frontal eye field generates signal to right pons for horizontal saccades and
- Parietal Occipital Temporal Region generates pursuit movements and uses the same downstream pathways
Nuclear Centers
- Horizontal eye movement- Pons
- Oculomotor Nucleus
- Abducens Nucleus
- Vertical eye movements- Midbrain at the Thalamo-mesocenphalic junction
Internuclear Pathways
- PPRF- parapontine reticular formation
- near the 6th nerve nucleus
- MLF- coordinates horizontal gaze nuclei
- Connects the 6th nerve nucleus to the 3rd nerve nucleus
Infranuclear Pathways
- Nerve axons to synapse then muscle contraction
