| pineal body | The pineal gland (also called the pineal body, epiphysis cerebri, epiphysis, conarium or the "third eye") is a small endocrine gland in the vertebrate brain. It produces the serotonin derivative melatonin, a hormone that affects the modulation of wake/sleep patterns and seasonal functions. Its shape resembles a tiny pine cone (hence its name), and it is located near the centre of the brain, between the two hemispheres, tucked in a groove where the two rounded thalamic bodies join [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineal_gland]. | — |
| habenular nucleus | The gray matter of the habenula, composed of a small-celled medial and a larger-celled lateral habenular nucleus; both nuclei receive fibres from basal forebrain regions (septum, basal nucleus, lateral preoptic nucleus); the lateral habenular nucleus receives an additional projection from the medial segment of the globus pallidus. Both nuclei project by way of the retroflex fasciculus to the interpeduncular nucleus and a medial zone of the midbrain tegmentum [Brenda]. | — |
| subthalamic nucleus | A biconvex mass of gray matter on the medial side of the junction of the internal capsule and the crus cerebri; its chief connections are with the globus pallidus [Brenda]. | — |
| preoptic nucleus | The preoptic area is a region of the hypothalamus. According to the MeSH classification, it is considered part of the anterior hypothalamus. There are four nuclei in this region, according to Terminologia Anatomica (Medial, Median, Lateral, and Paraventricular) [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preoptic_area]. | — |
| supraoptic nucleus | A sharply defined nucleus of nerve cells in the anterior hypothalamic region, immediately above the lateral part of the optic chiasm; many of its cells are neurosecretory in function, secreting vasopressin, which is carried to the neurohypophysis (posterior pituitary) by the fibers of the supraopticohypophysial tract; other cells are osmoreceptors, which respond to increased osmotic pressure to signal the release of vasopressin by the neurohypophysis [Brenda]. | — |
| suprachiasmatic nucleus | A small group of neurons situated immediately dorsal to the optic chiasma in the anterior hypothalamus [Brenda]. | — |
| paraventricular nucleus | The nucleus paraventricularis anterior thalami and nuclues paraventricularis posterior thalami, two of the nuclei mediani thalami; they are situated on the dorsomedial wall of the thalamus, juxtaposed to the third ventricle [Brenda]. | — |
| infundibular nucleus | A nucleus of nerve cells in the posterior hypothalamic region, extending into the median eminence and almost entirely surrounding the base of the infundibulum [Brenda]. | — |
| dorsomedial nucleus | The dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus is a nucleus of the hypothalamus. It is involved in feeding, drinking, body-weight regulation and circadian activity [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsomedial_hypothalamic_nucleus]. | — |
| ventromedial nucleus | The ventromedial nucleus (sometimes referred to as the ventromedial hypothalamus or VMH) is a nucleus of the hypothalamus [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventromedial_nucleus]. | — |
| tuberomamillary nucleus | The tuber cinereum is a hollow eminence of gray matter situated between the mammillary bodies and the optic chiasm. The tuber cinereum is part of the hypothalamus [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuber_cinereum]. | — |
| lateral tuberal nucleus | Nerve cell nuclei situated ventrally in the intermediate hypothalamic region, mainly in the lateral hypothalamic area [Brenda]. | — |
| crus cerebri | The cerebral crus is the anterior portion of the cerebral peduncle which contains the motor tracts, the plural of which is cerebral crura [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_crus]. | — |
| substantia nigra | The substantia nigra is located in the mesencephalon (mid brain) region of the brain. It is part of the basal ganglia [Brenda]. | — |
| red nucleus | The red nucleus is a structure in the rostral midbrain involved in motor coordination. It comprises a caudal magnocellular and a rostral parvocellular part [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_nucleus]. | — |
| periaqueductal grey matter | Periaqueductal gray (PAG; also called the "central gray") is the gray matter located around the cerebral aqueduct within the tegmentum of the midbrain. It plays a role in the descending modulation of pain and in defensive behaviour. The ascending pain and temperature fibers of the spinothalamic tract also send information to the PAG via the spinomesencephalic tract (so-named because the fibers originate in the spine and terminate in the PAG, in the mesencephalon or midbrain) [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periaqueductal_gray]. | — |
| oculomotor nucleus | The fibers of the oculomotor nerve arise from a nucleus in the midbrain, which lies in the gray substance of the floor of the cerebral aqueduct and extends in front of the aqueduct for a short distance into the floor of the third ventricle. From this nucleus the fibers pass forward through the tegmentum, the red nucleus, and the medial part of the substantia nigra, forming a series of curves with a lateral convexity, and emerge from the oculomotor sulcus on the medial side of the cerebral peduncle [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculomotor_nucleus]. | — |
| trochlear nucleus | The nucleus of the trochlear nerve is located in the midbrain, at the level of the inferior colliculus. It is a motor nucleus, so is located near the midline [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trochlear_nucleus]. | — |
| mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus | The mesencephalic nucleus is involved with proprioception of the face, that is, the feeling of position of the muscles. Unlike many nuclei within the CNS, the mesencephalic nucleus contains no chemical synapses but are electrically coupled. Instead, neurons of this nucleus are pseudounipolar cells receiving proprioceptive information from the mandible, and sending projections to the motor trigeminal nucleus to mediate monosynaptic jaw jerk reflexes. It is also the only structure in the CNS to contain the cell bodies of a primary afferent, which are usually contained within ganglia (like the trigeminal ganglion) [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesencephalic_nucleus_of_trigeminal_nerve]. | — |
| vestibular nuclei | The vestibular nuclei are the cranial nuclei for the vestibular nerve [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibular_nuclei]. | — |
| cochlear nuclei | The cochlear nuclei (CN) are two heterogeneous collections of neurons in the mammalian brainstem that receive input from the cochlear nerve, which carry sound information from the cochleae. The outputs from the CN are to higher regions of the auditory brainstem [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_nuclei]. | — |
| superior olivary nucleus | The superior olivary complex (or SOC or superior olive) is a collection of brainstem nuclei that functions in multiple aspects of hearing and is an important component of the ascending and descending auditory pathways. The SOC is intimately related to the trapezoid body: most of the cell groups of the SOC are dorsal (posterior in primates) to this axon bundle while a number of cell groups are embedded in the trapezoid body. Overall, the SOC displays a significant interspecies variation, being largest in bats and rodents and smaller in primates [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superior_olivary_complex]. | — |
| abducent nucleus | The abducens nucleus is the originating nucleus from which the abducens nerve (VI) emerges - a cranial nerve nucleus. This nucleus is located beneath the fourth ventricle in the caudal portion of the pons, medial to the sulcus limitans [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abducens_nucleus]. | — |
| facial nucleus | The facial motor nucleus is a collection of neurons in the brainstem that belong to the facial nerve (cranial nerve VII). These lower motor neurons innervate the muscles of facial expression and the stapedius [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_motor_nucleus]. | — |
| salivatory nuclei | The salivatory nuclei are the inferior salivatory nucleus and the superior salivatory nucleus [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salivatory_nuclei]. | — |
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