Inferior colliculus at a glance
- What it is
- The inferior colliculus is a paired nucleus on the dorsal midbrain that acts as a key relay in the auditory pathway.
- Location
- It forms the lower pair of the four tectal elevations (corpora quadrigemina) on the back of the midbrain, below the superior colliculi.
- Function
- It integrates ascending auditory information from the brainstem, helps in sound localisation, and relays it to the medial geniculate body. It also mediates auditory reflexes.
- Body system
- Nervous · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA73435 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Output travels through the brachium of the inferior colliculus.
- Trochlear nerve exits just below it.
Structures next to the inferior colliculus
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Brachium of inferior colliculus · nervous
- Cerebral aqueduct · nervous
- Superior colliculus · nervous
- Midbrain · nervous
- Postcommunicating part of posterior cerebral artery · cardiovascular
- Posterior commissure · nervous
- Pineal body · endocrine
- Medial geniculate body · nervous
- Hair of head · skin
- Parahippocampal gyrus · nervous
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Inferior colliculus (FMA73435). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §12.1 Basic Structure and Function of the Nervous System. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
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