SOMATOTOPIC ORGANIZATION OF THE CRANIAL NERVE NUCLEI INVOLVED IN EYE MOVEMENTS: III, IV, VI

The oculomotor nucleus is divided into: 1. somatic medial column innervating the supenor rectus muscle somatic lateral column, further subdivided i lateral column innervating the inferior rectus, infenor oblique and medial rectus muscles; 2. central nucleus innervating the levator palpebrae superioris muscle; 3. visceral nucleus innervating the pupillary sphincter muscle, consisting of the following two groups of neurons: cholinergic, preganglionic neuros supplying the ciliary ganglion, termed the EdingerWestphal pregan glionic (EWpg) neuron population, and the centrally projecting, peptidergic neurons, termed the Edinger-Westphal centrally projecting (EWcp) population. A detailed understanding of the position of both nuclei and their subgroups supplying the individual muscles is an essential prerequisite for eye movement assessment, offering: simple clinical method for diagnosing eventual dysfunctions of eve movement generation pathways.