The middle cerebellar peduncle consists entirely of pontocerebellar fibers; it is the largest pathway of the cerebellum.[1]
Anatomy
The fibers are horizontally oriented, forming bundles which pass dorsally through the pons among the nuclei pontis and interweaving with the perpendicularly orietned corticospinal fiber.[1]
Damage to the pontocerebellar fibers (or nuclei pontis) will result in contralateral ataxia: due to the double decussation of the pathway along its entire course, it terminates in the motor cortex of the same cerebral hemisphere in which it began; the motor latral corticospinal tract then decussates once during its descend to control movement of the opposite side of the body.[1]
References
^ abcdefPatestas, Maria A.; Gartner, Leslie P. (2016). A Textbook of Neuroanatomy (2nd ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 109–110, 113, 116, 292, 295–296. ISBN978-1-118-67746-9.