Central lobule
Lobulus centralis vermis
A small lobule of the cerebellar vermis on the front upper surface, lying above the lingula with a wing extending into each hemisphere.
At a glance
- English
- Central lobule
- Latin (TA2)
- Lobulus centralis vermis
- System
- Brain and spinal cord
- Region
- Head
- Side
- Single, on the midline
About the central lobule
The central lobule is one of the subdivisions of the vermis, the narrow midline part of the cerebellum that joins the two cerebellar hemispheres. It belongs to the anterior lobe and sits on the front of the upper surface, in the anterior cerebellar notch, the hollow that faces the back of the midbrain. Counting from the front, it is the second lobule of the vermis: the lingula lies in front of and below it, and the culmen lies above and behind it. In the numbered scheme used by many atlases it corresponds to lobules II and III.
It is a small, roughly square block of folia. The precentral fissure separates it from the lingula, which it overlaps, and the preculminate fissure separates it from the culmen. On each side it does not stop at the vermis but continues laterally along the upper and front edge of the hemisphere as a thin wing, the ala of the central lobule. The two alae give the lobule as a whole the outline of a small butterfly when the cerebellum is viewed from above and in front. Beneath it lie the superior medullary velum and the roof of the fourth ventricle, with the superior cerebellar peduncles running up on either side.
Like the rest of the anterior lobe, the central lobule is mainly part of the spinocerebellum. It receives information about limb and trunk position through the spinocerebellar tracts and sends output via the fastigial and interposed nuclei to motor pathways in the brainstem. Through these circuits it helps regulate posture, muscle tone and the smooth coordination of limb movements, especially of the legs, which are mapped in the front of the anterior lobe.
Damage to the anterior lobe, as seen in long-term alcohol misuse, which tends to wear away the upper vermis first, produces an unsteady, wide-based gait with relatively little effect on the arms or on speech. Small lesions confined to the central lobule rarely occur alone, but it is often involved together with the culmen in degeneration or in tumours of the upper vermis.
Function and supply
- Function
- Part of the spinocerebellum; helps control posture, muscle tone and coordination of the trunk and lower limbs.
- Blood supply
- Supplied by the superior cerebellar artery through its vermian branches; venous blood drains to the superior vermian vein.
Anthromica
See the central lobule where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
