Oculomotor System Flashcards
What three crossings insure consensual response of the pupil? (for constriction)
- Optic chiasm
- Pretectal olivary nuclei to contralateral edinger-westphal nucleus (via posterior commissure)
- Pretectal olivary nuclei to ipsi- and contra-lateral edinger westphal nuclei
In the retina, photons are converted to electrical impulses by what type of cells?
melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells
10-15% of optic tract fibers by pass what nucleus that heads to the cerebral cortex?
Lateral geniculate nucleus
The 10-15% of fibers that don’t go to the cerebral cortex instead target what region? Via the ____ of the ______
Target pretectum via the brachium of the superior colliculus
Once fibers reach the pre-tectum, they synapse on the pretectum olivary cell nucleus and go these two separate ways:
- EW nuclei on opposite side
- EW nuclei on same side (both ipsi and contra)
Parasympathetic fibers from Edinger-Westphal travel with what nerve? Synapse where?
Oculomotor nerve (III), ciliary gnaglion
Short ciliary fibers reach what muscles?
Pupil constrictor muscles
The pathway from EW nucleus to pupillary constrictor muscles is (efferent/afferent)
Efferent
The pathway from retinal ganlgion cells to the pretectum (just in front of midbrain) is (efferent/afferent)
Afferent
In the dark, normal eyes are (constricted/dilated)
dilated in dark, to help you see better
The usual pupillary response to direct light is that both pupils will (contract/dilate) equally if nothing is wrong with either pupil
Contract
If you move the light quickly from one eye to the other if nothing is wrong with them, what should happen?
both pupils should hold their level of contraction
In an injured optic nerve (before chiasm, just posterior to eyeball), will it transmit light?
Yes, but to a lesser and slower degree
In an injured optic nerve, what happens when you shine a flashlight?
Injured nerve will still transmit light but just slower, so when light is moved from good to bad eye, the brain interprets this as a decrease of light being presented. brain will dilate both pupils to let in more light. Dilation response is in both eyes, despite only one eye being affected
RAPD stands for
relative afferent pupillary defect
the physiological basis of RAPD test is that, in health eyes, a bright light shone in one eye leads to a constriction of (one/both) pupils
both, equal constriction
What does a positive RAPD mean?
there is a difference between the two eyes in the afferent pathway due to retinal or optic nerve disease (when light is shone into normal eye, both pupils will constrict further, because can sense the light better)
In pupillary dilation, the first order neuron originates from where?
Posterior-lateral hypothalamus
In pupillary dilation, the first order neuron synapses where?
In the intermedio-lateral cell column cervical spinal cord (C7-T3)
This is the preganglionic sympathetic outflow nerve tract from the spinal cord
white ramus
After synapsing in the intermediolateral cell column, the second order neuron for pupillary dilation exits the spinal cord via what to head where??
White ramie in C8-T3 ventral roots to the paravertebral sympathetic column
The second order neurons for pupillary constriction ascent along what arteries and synapse where?
Ascend along carotid arteries, synapse in the superior cervical ganglion
3rd order neuron for pupillary constriction reach what division of the trigeminal nerve?
opthalmic
From the superior cervical ganglion, what type of fibers ascend along the internal carotid artery?
Noradrenergic fibers (norepinephrine)
3rd order neurons for pupillary constriction pass through what fissure and merge with what branches?
Superior orbital fissue, long ciliary nerves (branches of nasociliary nerve)
3rd order ganglion neurons for pupillary constriction innervate what three muscles?
Pupillary dilater, and superior and inferior tarsal muscles
Do sympathetic fibers synapse in the ciliary ganglion?
No, they just pass through
What fibers leave before entering skull for pupillary constriction?
Sudomotor fibers to sweat glands
In Horner’s syndrome, there can be lesion to what order neuron?
all 3.