Pons and Cerebellum
The pons -middle part of the brain stem. -connecting the midbrain with the medulla. -pons means “bridge”. It connects the spinal cord with the brain and links parts of the brain with one another by the tracts' - relays nerve impulses related to voluntary skeletal movements from the cerebral cortex to the cerebellum. - It contains the nuclei of V-VII cranial nerves. - has the pneumotaxic and apneustic centers which help to control respiration. External structure - two surfaces, ventral and dorsal - ventral or anterior surface is convex in both direction and is transversely striated. - median plane it shows a vertical basilar groove, sulcus basilaris which lodges the basilar artery. - Laterally the surface is continuous with the middle cerebellar peduncles , pedunculi cerebellares medii. - formed by the axons of pontine nuclei - connect the right and left sides of the pons with the cerebellum. - rootlets of the trigeminal nerve (V pair of cranial nerve) emerge at the juncti