Interventricular foramina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Brain: Interventricular foramina | ||
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| Mesal aspect of a brain sectioned in the median sagittal plane. ("Foramen of Monroe" label at top.) | ||
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| Coronal section of lateral and third ventricles. (Foramen not displayed, but relationship between ventricles can be observed.) | ||
| Latin | foramen interventriculare | |
| Gray's | subject #189 840 | |
| NeuroNames | hier-430 | |
| MeSH | A08.186.211.276 | |
In the brain, the interventricular foramina (or foramina of Monro) are channels that connect the paired lateral ventricles with the third ventricle at the midline of the brain. As channels, they allow cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) produced in the lateral ventricles to reach the third ventricle and then the rest of the brain's ventricular system. They also contain choroid plexus, a specialized CSF-producing structure, that is continuous with that of the lateral and third ventricles.
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[edit] Anatomy
The crescent-shaped interventricular foramina are located on the medial and inferior aspect of the lateral ventricles. Each foramen is bounded by the fornix and thalamus. The lumens of the foramina have a diameter of several millimeters.
[edit] Clinical relevance
Inflammation, tumor, or other conditions that may occlude the foramina may lead to internal hydrocephalus.
[edit] History
The foramina were named after the Scottish physician Alexander Monro, who first described the structures in his 1783 publication, Observations on the Structure and Functions of the Nervous System. They had previously been identified by the 17th century anatomist Raymond Vieussens.
[edit] Additional images
 Velum interpositum. |
[edit] References
- Kiernan, John A. (2005). Barr's The Human Nervous System: An Anatomical Viewpoint. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 220. ISBN 0-7817-5154-3.
- History of Neuroscience, from the University of Washington
[edit] External links
| Diencephalon - edit |
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third ventricle, interventricular foramina, optic chiasm, subfornical organ epithalamus: pineal body, habenula, habenular nuclei anterior hypothalamus: anterior hypothalamic nucleus, paraventricular nucleus, preoptic area, supraoptic nucleus, suprachiasmatic nucleus intermediate/middle/tuberal/pituitary hypothalamus: infundibulum, median eminence, arcuate nucleus, ventromedial nucleus, dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus, tuber cinereum, pituitary gland (anterior pituitary, posterior pituitary) posterior/lateral hypothalamus: posterior nucleus, mammillary body, lateral nucleus subthalamus: subthalamic nucleus thalamus: pulvinar, medial geniculate nucleus, lateral geniculate nucleus, list of thalamic nuclei |
