- colliculus
- A small elevation above the surrounding parts. [L. mound, dim. of collis, hill]- c. of arytenoid cartilage [TA] the elevation on the anterolateral surface of the arytenoid cartilage above the triangular fovea. SYN: c. cartilaginis arytenoideae [TA].- facial c. [TA] prominent portion of the medial eminence, just rostral to the medullary striae in the rhomboidal fossa; it is formed by the internal genu of the facial nerve and the abducens nucleus around which the facial fibers curve. SYN: c. facialis [TA], abducens eminence, eminentia abducentis, eminentia facialis, facial eminence, facial hillock.- inferior c. [TA] the ovoid, paired, inferior eminence of the laminae of mesencephalic tectum; it receives the lateral lemniscus and projects by way of the brachium of inferior c. to the medial geniculate body of the thalamus, and is thus an essential way-station in the central auditory pathway. SYN: c. inferior [TA], corpus quadrigeminum posterius, inferior nasal c., posterior quadrigeminal body.- seminal c. [TA] an elevated portion of the urethral crest upon which open the two ejaculatory ducts and the prostatic utricle. SYN: c. seminalis [TA], c. urethralis, seminal hillock, verumontanum.- c. seminalis [TA] SYN: seminal c..- superior c. [TA] the paired, larger, rounded anterior eminence of the laminae of mesencephalic tectum; major afferent connections of the superficial layers are the retina and striate cortex; input to deep layers of the c. are polymodal. Its efferent connections are with the lower brainstem and spinal cord (tectobulbar tract and tectospinal tract) and with the pulvinar and other cell groups in the caudal part of the thalamus; participates in extrageniculate visual pathway. The layers of the superior c. from superficial to deep are: zonal layer (stratum zonale), superficial gray layer (stratum griseum superficial), optic layer (stratum opticum), intermediate gray layer (stratum griseum intermedium), intermediate white layer (stratum medullare intermedium), deep gray layer (stratum griseum profundum), deep white layer (stratum medullare profundum). SYN: c. superior [TA], anterior quadrigeminal body, corpus quadrigeminum anterius.- c. urethralis SYN: seminal c..
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col·lic·u·lus kə-'lik-yə-ləs n, pl -u·li -.lī, -lē an anatomical prominence esp any of the four prominences constituting the corpora quadrigemina see INFERIOR COLLICULUS, SUPERIOR COLLICULUS* * *
n. (pl. colliculi)a small protuberance or swelling. Two pairs of colliculi, the superior and inferior colliculi, protrude from the roof of the midbrain (see tectum).* * *
col·lic·u·lus (kə-likґu-ləs) pl. collicґuli [L.] a small elevation or mound.
Medical dictionary. 2011.
