Cerebral aqueduct
conduit for CSF to the brain
The cerebral aqueduct (aqueduct of the midbrain, aqueduct of Sylvius, Sylvian aqueduct, mesencephalic duct) is a small, narrow tube connecting the third and fourth ventricles of the brain. The cerebral aqueduct is a midline structure that passes through the midbrain. It extends rostrocaudally through the entirety of the more posterior part of the midbrain. It is surrounded by the periaqueductal gray (central gray), a layer of gray matter.
Congenital stenosis of the cerebral aqueduct is a cause of congenital hydrocephalus.
It is named for Franciscus Sylvius.
Anatomy
The cerebral aqueduct is roughly circular in transverse section, and measures 1-2 mm in diameter. It is 15 mm long and is commonly subdivided into a pars anterior antrum, and pars posterior.
Relations
Rostrally, it is continuous with the third ventricle, commencing just inferior to the posterior commissure.
Caudally, it is continuous with the fourth ventricle at the junction of the mesencephalon and pons.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Cerebral aqueduct” as conduit for CSF to the brain. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q623016. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cerebral aqueduct” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.