The hypothalamotegmental tract is a pathway from the hypothalamus

Hypothalamus

The Hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions...

 to the reticular formation

Reticular formation

The reticular formation is a part of the brain that is involved in actions such as awaking/sleeping cycle, and filtering incoming stimuli to discriminate irrelevant background stimuli...

. Axons from the posterior hypothalamus descend through the mesencephalic

Midbrain reticular formation

The midbrain reticular formation is a structure in the midbrain consisting of the dorsal tegmental nucleus, ventral tegmental nucleus, and cuneiform nucleus...

 and pontine reticular formations

Reticular formation

The reticular formation is a part of the brain that is involved in actions such as awaking/sleeping cycle, and filtering incoming stimuli to discriminate irrelevant background stimuli...

. They connect with reticular neurons important in visceral and autonomic activity. The tract is a continuation of the medial forebrain bundle in the lateral portion of the tegmentum. It is not visible without special stains.

See Also

• Midbrain reticular formation
  Midbrain reticular formation
  The midbrain reticular formation is a structure in the midbrain consisting of the dorsal tegmental nucleus, ventral tegmental nucleus, and cuneiform nucleus...
  
  
• Medial forebrain bundle
  Medial forebrain bundle
  The Medial forebrain bundle , is a complex bundle of axons coming from the basal olfactory regions, the periamygdaloid region, and the septal nuclei.-Anatomy:...
  
  
• Mammillothalamic tract
  Mammillothalamic tract
  The mammillothalamic fasciculus arises from cells in both the medial and lateral nuclei of the mammillary body and by fibers that are directly continued from the fornix.The Mammillothalamic fasciculus then connects the mammillary body to the dorsal tegmental nuclei, the ventral...