| Corticopontine fibers | |
| Latin: | fibrae corticopontinae, tractus corticopontinus |
Corticopontine fibers are projections from the cerebral cortex to the pontine nuclei of the ventral pons.[1] They represent the first link in a cortico-cerebello-cortical pathway mediating neocerebellar control of the motor cortex. The pathway is especially important for voluntary movements.[2]
They encompass - or, rather, may be subdivided into - frontopontine fibers, temporopontine fibers, parietopontine fibers, and occipitopontine fibers (with the first two being most prominent).
Corticopontine fibers arise primarily from the neocortex layer V of the premotor, somatosensory, non-striate visual, posterior parietal, and cingulate cerebral cortex; there are also a few fibers originating from the prefrontal, temporal, and striate cortex.[3]
The fibers descend through the sublenticular and retrolenticular of internal capsule, then traverse the midbrain through the basis pedunculi (i.e. ventral part of cerebral peduncle) to reach the pontine nuclei and synapse with neurons that give rise to pontocerebellar fibers.
Cortex->Pons->Cerebellum: