The superior colliculi are the upper pair of bumps on the back of the midbrain. Each one holds a map of the opposite visual field aligned with maps of touch and sound. It drives fast, automatic eye movements (saccades) and head turns toward something that suddenly appears.
| Location | Dorsal midbrain, upper pair of the corpora quadrigemina, below the pineal gland |
|---|---|
| Parts |
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| Connections |
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| Blood Supply | Collicular (quadrigeminal) artery; Posterior choroidal arteries; Superior cerebellar artery |
Directs rapid eye and head orientation toward visual, auditory and touch stimuli and contributes to visual attention.
Superior collicular damage slows or reduces saccades toward the opposite side. It is thought to underlie blindsight, in which people with cortical blindness can still point to or avoid objects they cannot consciously see. The nearby pretectal area, not the colliculus itself, mediates the pupillary light reflex.
Unconscious detection of visual stimuli in a cortically blind field, thought to depend partly on the superior colliculus pathway to the pulvinar and cortex.
Slowed or absent vertical eye movements from lesions of the dorsal midbrain involving the colliculi and pretectum.
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