Brainstem, cerebellum and ventricles

The brainstem and cerebellum

From top to bottom, the brainstem consists of the midbrain, the pons and the medulla oblongata, which continues as the spinal cord. The cerebellum lies behind the brainstem and helps coordinate movement and balance.

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The ventricles

Cerebrospinal fluid fills a connected system of cavities. Each cerebral hemisphere contains a lateral ventricle, which drains through an interventricular foramen into the narrow third ventricle. The cerebral aqueduct carries fluid through the midbrain to the fourth ventricle, between the brainstem and cerebellum.

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What is not shown

The source data contains only some individual gyri of the cerebral cortex, so SomaVista leaves the cortex out rather than show an incomplete surface. The deep structures (thalamus, basal nuclei, hippocampus and corpus callosum) are shown on their own.

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Further reading

• 13.2 The Central Nervous System (opens in a new tab) — OpenStax, Anatomy and Physiology 2e
• 13.3 Circulation and the Central Nervous System (opens in a new tab) — OpenStax, Anatomy and Physiology 2e

OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e (J. Gordon Betts et al., OpenStax, 2022) is cited as further reading. Its text is licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 and is not reproduced here; SomaVista's explanations are written independently.