Corona radiata
Encyclopedia
- For the structure in embryology, see Corona radiata (embryology)Corona radiata (embryology)The corona radiata surround an ovum or unfertilized egg cell, and consist of two or three strata of follicular cells. They are attached to the outer protective layer of the ovum, the zona pellucida, and their main purpose in many animals is to supply vital proteins to the cell...
In neuroanatomy
Neuroanatomy
Neuroanatomy is the study of the anatomy and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defined nervous systems, and thus we can begin to speak of...
, the corona radiata is a white matter
White matter
White matter is one of the two components of the central nervous system and consists mostly of myelinated axons. White matter tissue of the freshly cut brain appears pinkish white to the naked eye because myelin is composed largely of lipid tissue veined with capillaries. Its white color is due to...
sheet that continues caudally as the internal capsule
Internal capsule
The internal capsule is an area of white matter in the brain that separates the caudate nucleus and the thalamus from the lenticular nucleus. The internal capsule contains both ascending and descending axons....
and rostrally as the centrum semiovale. This sheet of axon
Axon
An axon is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, that conducts electrical impulses away from the neuron's cell body or soma....
s contains both descending and ascending axons that carry nearly all of the neural traffic from and to the cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different...
. The corona radiata is associated with the corticospinal tract
Corticospinal tract
The corticospinal or pyramidal tract is a collection of axons that travel between the cerebral cortex of the brain and the spinal cord....
, the corticopontine tract
Corticopontine fibers
Corticopontine fibers are projections from the cerebral cortex to the pontine nuclei.Depending upon the lobe of origin, they can be classified as frontopontine fibers, parietopontine fibers, temporopontine fibers and occipitopontine fibers....
, and the corticobulbar tract
Corticobulbar tract
The corticobulbar tract is a white matter pathway connecting the cerebral cortex to the brainstem. The 'bulb' is an archaic term for the medulla oblongata; in modern clinical usage, it sometimes includes the pons as well...
.