motor periaqueductal gray
Acronym:
The term motor periaqueductal gray refers to the part of the functionally-defined central gray that largely surrounds the cerebral aqueduct in the midbrain tegmentum ( Swanson-2004 ). Based primarily on studies in the rat, it includes four nuclei in addition to the classical periaqueductal gray: the precommissural nucleus, medial accessory oculomotor nucleus, interstitial nucleus of Cajal, and nucleus of Darkshevich.
In the motor definition, the periaqueductal gray is subdivided somewhat differently than in the classical version. It is composed of a narrow medial division of the periaqueductal gray, which surrounds the cerebral aqueduct throughout its course; the dorsomedial periaqueductal gray, which caps the aqueduct as it emerges from beneath the posterior commissure and extends caudally to the junction of the aqueduct with the fourth ventricle; the dorsolateral periaqueductal gray that lies lateral to it throughhalf of its course; the commissural nucleus, the rostromedial division of the periaqueductal gray, and the rostrolateral division of the periaqueductal gray, which occupy the area ventral to the dorsomedial and dorsolateral divisions and lateral to the medial division in the rostral quarter of the periaqueductal gray, and the ventrolateral division of the periaqueductal gray, which occupies that area in the caudal three quarters of the structure.
Functionally the motor periaqueductal gray is a component of the behavior control column of the subcortical motor system ( Swanson-2004 ).
Also known as: periaqueductal grayNeuroNames ID : 3411
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