Editing Neural pathway (section)

==Naming==
[[File:Architecture of the Cerebellar Cortex.svg|thumb|left|380px|Neural pathways of [[cerebellum|cerebellar cortex]] ]]
[[File:Ciliary ganglion pathways.png|thumb|Pathways in the [[ciliary ganglion]]. Green=Parasympathetic; Red=Sympathetic; Blue=Sensory]]
The first named pathways are evident to the naked eye even in a poorly preserved [[brain]], and were named by the great anatomists of the [[Renaissance]] using cadaver material.{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}} Examples of these include the great ''commissures'' of the brain such as the [[corpus callosum]] ([[Latin]], "hard body"; not to be confused with the Latin word "colossus"{{snd}} the "huge" statue), ''anterior commissure'', and ''posterior commissure''.{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}} Further examples include the [[Corticospinal tract|pyramidal tract]], [[cerebral peduncle|crus cerebri]] ([[Latin]], "leg of the brain"), and ''cerebellar peduncles'' ([[Latin]], "little foot of the [[cerebellum]]").{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}} Note that these names describe the ''appearance'' of a structure but give no information on its function, location, etc.{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}}

Later, as [[neuroanatomy|neuroanatomical]] knowledge became more sophisticated, the trend was toward naming pathways by their origin and termination.{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}} For example, the [[nigrostriatal pathway]] runs from the [[substantia nigra]] ([[Latin]], "black substance") to the [[striatum|corpus striatum]] ([[Latin]], "striped body").{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}} This naming can extend to include any number of structures in a pathway, such that the cerebellorubrothalamocortical pathway originates in the [[cerebellum]], [[synapse]]s in the [[red nucleus]] ("ruber" in Latin), on to the [[thalamus]], and finally terminating in the [[cerebral cortex]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}}

Sometimes, these two naming conventions coexist. For example, the name "[[Corticospinal tract|pyramidal tract]]" has been mainly supplanted by [[Corticospinal tract|lateral corticospinal tract]] in most texts.{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}} Note that the "old" name was primarily descriptive, evoking the [[Great Pyramid of Giza|pyramids]] of antiquity, from the appearance of this neural pathway in the [[medulla oblongata]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}} The "new" name is based primarily on its origin (in the primary motor [[cerebral cortex|cortex]], [[Brodmann area]] 4) and termination (onto the [[motoneuron|alpha motor neurons]] of the [[spinal cord]]).{{Citation needed|date=February 2017}}

In the [[cerebellum]], one of the two major pathways is that of the [[mossy fiber (cerebellum)|mossy fiber]]s. Mossy fibers project directly to the [[deep cerebellar nuclei|deep nuclei]], but also give rise to the following pathway: mossy fibers → granule cells → parallel fibers → Purkinje cells → deep nuclei. The other main pathway is from the [[climbing fiber]]s and these project to Purkinje cells and also send collaterals directly to the deep nuclei.<ref name=SOB>{{cite book |title=The Synaptic Organization of the Brain |editor=Shepherd GM |chapter=Ch. 7 ''Cerebellum'' |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-515955-1 |vauthors=Llinas RR, Walton KD, Lang EJ }}</ref>