Term: midbrain Mauthner neuron
Note: This page represents a term created by the combination ("post-composition") of two ontology terms. For more information on the individual terms, click the hyperlinked name.
Name: midbrain
Synonyms: mesencephalon
Definition: The brain region between the forebrain anteriorly and the hindbrain posteriorly, including the tectum dorsally and the midbrain tegmentum ventrally.
Ontology: Anatomy Ontology [ZFA:0000128]
Name: Mauthner neuron
Synonyms:
Definition: Is a hindbrain interneuron. Giant reticulospinal neurons possessing thick crossed axons and positioned dorsally in the hindbrain tegmentum at the level of entrance of the eighth cranial nerve. The Mauthner neuron is paired. The M-cell has two large invariant dendrites: The lateral dendrite terminates in the sensory neuropil of the acoustico-lateral area, and the ventral dendrite terminates in the neuropil of the motor tegmentum. Fine dendrites are present, and mostly arise from three regions; from the terminus of each major dendrite and from the ventral surface of the perikaryon.
Ontology: Anatomy Ontology [ZFA:0009149]