Edinger-Westphal nucleus

Meaning

Noun

• The accessory parasympathetic cranial nerve nucleus of the oculomotor nerve (cranial nerve III), supplying the constricting muscles of the iris and the ciliary muscle.

Origin

• Named after Ludwig Edinger, who demonstrated it in the fetus in 1885, and Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal, who demonstrated it in the adult in 1887.