Functions Lat. Zone Interm. Zone Med/Floc Olive Problems Contents Anatomy

As you realize by now, I have not said very much about the inferior olive. You know that the olive is the source of climbing fibers to the entire contralateral cerebellum and that their stimulation results in a complex spike. I have not emphasized any other connections but now that we are through with the spinal cord and brain stem I want to tell you two inputs to the inferior olive. One comes from the spinal cord and is thus called the spino-olivary projection. Think about collaterals coming off of the dorsal spinocerebellar tract and the cuneocerebellar tract and ending in the CONTRALATERAL OLIVE. Does the laterality of this projection "make sense"? We cannot see these collaterals in our sections. The other olivary projection that I want you to know is from the primary motor cortex (MI). These cortico-olivary fibers are UNCROSSED. Does the laterality of this projection "make sense"? You can see that some comparison can be done in the olive of the intended movement with the ongoing movement. Such correction information is conveyed to the intermediate zone of the cerebellum. I realize that there is climbing input to other zones of the cerebellum for planning etc., but enough is enough, if you know what I mean. Or, as they say in New York, ENOUGH ALREADY!