Group
Deep cerebellar nuclei
Also called Cerebellar nuclei, Intracerebellar nuclei
The cerebellum's hidden exit doors, sending out its final polished messages.
Buried deep inside the cerebellum are three pairs of nerve-cell clusters: the dentate, interposed and fastigial nuclei. Nearly every message the cerebellum sends to the rest of the brain leaves through them. The cerebellum's surface does the fine calculating, then passes its results down to these nuclei, which deliver the final word.
Where it is
Deep in the white matter of the cerebellum, on both sides of the midline, just above the roof of the fourth ventricle, a fluid-filled space in the brainstem.
What it does
The main exit
They send the cerebellum's output to the brainstem and to the thalamus, which passes it on to the cortex.
Blending signals
They mix raw incoming signals with the carefully timed "brake" signals sent down by Purkinje cells.
Sharing the work
The fastigial handles balance and posture, the interposed handles arm and leg movements, and the dentate handles planning and thinking.
Storing skills
Some learned changes in movement seem to be stored here, as well as in the cerebellum's surface.
Think of them as the cerebellum's mail room: the offices upstairs write the letters, but everything is sorted and sent out from down here.
Inside the deep cerebellar nuclei
- Dentate nucleusThe biggest cerebellar exit, linking movement planning with thinking.
- Interposed nucleusThe middle cerebellar nucleus, correcting arm and leg movements as they happen.
- Fastigial nucleusThe innermost cerebellar nucleus, keeping your body balanced and your gaze on target.
Works with
- Purkinje cellPurkinje cells in the cerebellum's surface send their braking signals down to these nuclei.
- Red nucleusOutput from the dentate and interposed nuclei reaches this relay in the midbrain.
- Ventral lateral nucleus of the thalamusTheir messages pass through this relay in the thalamus on the way to the motor cortex.
- Medulla oblongataThe fastigial nucleus talks to balance and posture centers in the lower brainstem.
- Arbor vitaeThey are nestled inside this branching white matter.
When it goes wrong
Tremor and clumsiness
Because nearly all the cerebellum's output passes through them, damage here or to their outgoing fibers can cause clumsiness and tremor, so surgeons try hard to spare them.
For learning only, not medical advice. If you have a health concern, talk to a doctor.
Surprising facts
- One easy way to remember their order, from outside to middle, is "Don't Eat Greasy Food": Dentate, Emboliform, Globose, Fastigial. The middle two together make up the interposed nucleus.
- The cerebellum's surface can only send braking signals. These nuclei keep up a steady stream of activity, and those brakes sculpt it into precise messages.
Where the name comes from
"Nucleus" is Latin for "kernel" or "nut". Like kernels inside a fruit, these clusters sit hidden deep inside the cerebellum.
Quick quiz
3 questions. Your answers are saved and come back in your daily review.
Which of these is a job of the deep cerebellar nuclei?
Show the answer
The main exit. They send the cerebellum's output to the brainstem and to the thalamus, which passes it on to the cortex.
The main exit. They send the cerebellum's output to the brainstem and to the thalamus, which passes it on to the cortex.
The deep cerebellar nuclei is part of which larger structure?
Show the answer
Cerebellum. It belongs to the cerebellum.
Cerebellum. It belongs to the cerebellum.
Which part fits this description? "Like the cerebellum's mail room: the offices upstairs write the letters, but everything is sorted and sent out from down here."
Show the answer
Deep cerebellar nuclei. It is the deep cerebellar nuclei. The cerebellum's hidden exit doors, sending out its final polished messages.
Deep cerebellar nuclei. It is the deep cerebellar nuclei. The cerebellum's hidden exit doors, sending out its final polished messages.
These parts now come back in your daily review, just before you would forget them.
Practice these parts in 3DSources
- Cerebellar nuclei, Radiopaedia
- Circuits within the Cerebellum, Neuroscience, 2nd edition (Purves et al.), NCBI Bookshelf
- Cerebellar Circuitry and the Coordination of Ongoing Movement, Neuroscience, 2nd edition (Purves et al.), NCBI Bookshelf
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