Polioencephalitis Polioencephalitis Polioencephalitis is a viral infection of the brain, causing inflammation within the grey matter of the brain stem. The virus has an affinity for neuronal cell bodies and has been found to affect mostly the midbrain, pons, medulla and cerebellum of most infected patients. The infection can reach up through the thalamus and hypothalamus and possibly reach the cerebral hemispheres. The infection is caused by the poliomyelitis virus which is a single-stranded, positive sense RNA virus surrounded by a non-enveloped capsid. Humans are the only known natural hosts of this virus. The disease has been eliminated from the U.S.
Anatomy of the cerebellum pathway transmits signals that inform the cerebellum about the movement in progress and the upcoming movement. This helps the continuous adjustment of motor activity. The initiation of the movement is relayed to cerebellum via the corticoreticulocerebellar pathway. Those synapse ipsilaterally in the reticular formation, then via the inferior and middle peduncles into the cerebellar vermis. The motor cortex and somatosensory cortex projects onto the ipsilateral inferior and accessory olivary nuclei, then forming the olivocerebellar tract. Cortico-olivary fibers synapse bilaterally in the inferior olivary nucleus. The order is preserved in the olivocerebellar tract projections onto the ‘body maps’ in the contralateral