The inferior olivary complex is a C-shaped collection of nuclei in the rostral ventral medulla, wedged between the medullary pyramids (medially) and cranial nerves IX, X, and XI (laterally). The two major cerebellar input fibers are mossy fibers and climbing fibers. The inferior olivary nucleus is the main source of climbing fibers.

The pyramidal decussation is located in the inferior medulla, the lowest portion of the brainstem. Here, the axons of the corticospinal tract cross (decussate); this is the reason why the right brain controls the left half of the body, and the left brain controls the right. The anatomy of the corticospinal fibers in this region is complicated. The fibers destined for upper extremity are traveling more medially and anteriorly compared to those destined for lower extremity. In addition, the decussation of the upper extremity corticospinal fibers occurs above the level of the foramen magnum, and that of lower extremity fibers occurs inferiorly.

The oculomotor nerve, aka cranial nerve III, originates from its nucleus in the midbrain (middle), at the level of the superior colliculus, travels through the cavernous sinus, exiting the skull through the superior orbital fissure, and innervates the majority of the extraocular muscles (five in all: superior rectus, inferior rectus, medial rectus, inferior oblique, and levator palpebrae superioris). A complete lesion of the oculomotor nerve will produce weakness of eye elevation and adduction, thus leading to a resting position of depression and abduction. Hence down and out.

The fourth ventricle is the last of the four ventricles (which are like cerebrospinal lakes, lochs) through which the cerebrospinal fluid flows. It contains the outflow tracts/apertures foramen of Magendie (aka medial aperture) and foramen of Luschka (aka lateral aperture). It can be the focus of compression from tumors, or abscesses, or Chiari malformation, which causes obstruction of cerebrospinal fluid flow, producing hydrocephalus, which in turn commonly causes headache and increased cranial size in kids.

After nine months in Ireland, Cromwell is recalled to London. Andrew Marvell writes “An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell’s Return,” an ambiguous encomium. In Ireland, Cromwell’s early return to London is largely forgotten in public memory. By revising existing English-language discussions of Ireland, and incorporating its demographic variety into an emerging idea of “the Irish,” Milton contributes to reconceptualizing Ireland from pluralist variety to a new, flatter pairing, “the Irish” and “the English.” The Cromwellian conquest produces a stronger Irish Catholic identitarian response, as can be seen in the November 1649 meeting of “The Archbishops, Bishops, and other Prelates” at Clonmacnoise (and their subsequent, 1650 publication, to which Cromwell and Milton both responded). Around the same time that Certaine Actes and Declarations of the Clonmacnoise conference was published, the Council of State assigned Milton the task of responding to Defensio Regia pro Carolina I, by Salmasius. Cromwell’s invasion of Ireland is wrapped into Milton’s response, known in English as A Defence of the People of England (1651).

For physicists who study elementary particles and quantum field theory, the 1970s was a golden age. It saw the experimental confirmation of the electroweak theory, and the extension of that thinking would lead us to a successful theory of strong interactions as well. All the fundamental forces of nature, except for gravity, would be unified in what became known as the “Standard Model.” By the end of 1973, there was some experimental verification of the electroweak theory. Weinberg agrees to write The First Three Minutes, which was published in 1977. Louise visits Stanford Law School, accompanied by Weinberg, who finds his host department cold. In 1977, he collaborates with Ben Lee of Fermilab, who tragically died in a car accident later that year. Louise is invited to teach at University of Texas Law School, in the summer of 1979, after which she was offered a full professorship. The Weinbergs taught in their respective universities and met in Cambridge in the holidays. Weinberg’s Nobel Prize, shared with Salam and Glashow, is announced in October 1979, ahead of the ceremony that December.

The anterior/ventral nerve root originates at the anterior horn. After exiting the spinal canal laterally, it passes through the intervertebral foramen and, unlike the posterior/dorsal nerve root, it does not pass through a ganglion.

The anterior spinal artery is an artery that travels up the anterior side of the spinal cord, perfusing two-thirds of the spinal cord territory (notably the corticospinal and spinothalamic tracts). The other one-third of the perfusion territory of the spinal cord is supplied by the two posterior spinal arteries (notably the dorsal columns).

The great cerebral vein, also called the great cerebral vein of Galen, is a deep midline cerebral venous sinus. It drains venous blood from bilateral basal veins of Rosenthal and the internal cerebral veins. It further drains superoposteriorly, eventually draining into the straight sinus. Though it only travels a relatively short distance (0.5–3 cm), it plays a critical role in helping venous drain of the blood from the brainstem, deep cerebral structures, and several posterior cranial fossa structures.

The lateral sulcus/sylvian fissure separates the temporal lobe from the frontal and parietal lobes. It is a bilateral structure, which angles diagonally, postero-superiorly to antero-inferiorly, and if opened slightly makes the insular lobe visible.

The cochlea is a spiral-shaped portion of the inner ear osseous labyrinth, located in the petrous portion of the temporal bone. It contains the cochlear duct, a portion of the membranous labyrinth that senses and processes sound. Its spiraled contour rotates a total of approximately two and three-quarter turns (990 degrees) around a central portion of bone called the modiolus. This spiraled tube is subdivided into three fluid-filled tubes by two membranes, the spiral lamina/basilar membrane and Reissner’s membrane. Two of the tubes, the scala tympani and scala vestibuli, considered the lower and upper sections respectively, are filled with perilymph. The middle tube is called the scala media (or cochlear duct), which is filled with endolymph and contains the organ of Corti, the primary sensory organ for hearing.

Cranial nerve IV, the trochlear nerve, is the smallest cranial nerve and has the longest intracranial path as it exits from the dorsal midbrain (at the level of inferior colliculus), crosses to the other side of the brainstem and travels along the lateral wall of the cavernous sinus, exiting the skull through the superior orbital fissure, and traveling all the way to the superior oblique muscle. Because of decussation of the intraparenchymal fibers after originating from the nucleus, the left trochlear nucleus eventually innervates the right superior oblique muscle and vice versa.

Although Milton’s relationship with Ireland will not be as active after 1653 as it had been in the previous fifteen years, Ireland does not entirely disappear from Milton’s work. Ireland is implied in “On the Late Massacre in Piedmont” and in Paradise Lost (1667, 1674). Ireland also appears occasionally in Milton’s The History of Britain. Milton’s personal connections to Ireland grow after the Cromwellian conquest. More importantly, though, Milton has been a persistent presence in Ireland – not only as a literary figure, but also as a republican political theorist: He is cited by Irish Republicans in the eighteenth and twentienth centuries, and by Irish authors including W. B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett, John McGahern, Eimear McBride, and more. At the same time, Milton’s insights into pre-Cromwellian Ireland represent a hidden potential for today’s post-Brexit Ireland.