| Basilar part of pons | |
|---|---|
 Brainstem (basilar part of pons not labeled, but is visible at bottom) | |
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | Pars basilaris pontis, basis pontis |
| NeuroNames | 616 |
| NeuroLex ID | birnlex_1043 |
| TA98 | A14.1.05.101 |
| TA2 | 5925 |
| FMA | 72244 |
| Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy | |
Thebasilar part of pons, also known asbasis pontis, orbasilar pons, is the ventral part of thepons (ventral pons) in thebrainstem; the dorsal part (dorsal pons) is known as thepontine tegmentum.
The basilar part of the pons makes up two thirds of the pons.[1] It has a ridged appearance with a shallowgroove at the midline. This groove is thebasilar sulcus and is covered by thebasilar artery.[2] The basilar artery feeds into thecircle of Willis providing blood supply to the brainstem andcerebellum.[3] The ridged appearance is due to the fibers that come out of the pons to enter the cerebellum.[2] The basilar pons contains fibers from thecorticospinal tract (a descending pathway for neurons to reach other structures in the body),pontine nuclei, and transverse pontine fibers.[1] The corticospinal tract carries fibres from theprimary motor cortex to thespinal cord, aiding in voluntary motor movement of the body. In addition to passing through the ventral pons, corticospinal tract fibers go through other structures of the brainstem, including theinternal capsule and thecrus cerebri.[4]
Integral to the basilar pons are thepontine nuclei. The pontine nuclei are responsible for projecting fibers that go to the opposite cerebellar hemisphere through themiddle cerebellar peduncle, changing the fibers into transverse pontine fibers.[1] The fibers of the pontine nuclei are all important to motor function, including fiber bundles such as the corticospinal fibers and corticopontine-pontocerebellar system.[5] Specifically, the basilar part of the pons contains all thecorticofugal fibers, which include thecorticospinal,corticobulbar (or corticonuclear), andcorticopontine fibers.[6] The basal pontine nuclei provides most of the cortical information to the cerebellum received from the corticopontine fibers.[7]
Tissue death (infarction), in this region can impair motor functioning.[8] Alacunar stroke of the base of the pons is known to cause contralateraldysarthria-clumsy hand syndrome.
The basilar pons undergoesdemyelination in the condition known ascentral pontine myelinolysis. This disorder is due to the rapid intravenous correction ofhyponatremia.
This article incorporates text in thepublic domain frompage 785 of the 20th edition ofGray's Anatomy(1918)
