The olive is a distinctly rounded elevation, one on hay. and one on the left. side, located on the front of the oblonged pith and at the side of the pyramid. The elevation contains a strangely shaped core - the lower olive kernel (oliva inferior, nucl. olivaris inferior) - which looks like the wall of a crumpled sac.
The olive nucleus receives signals from the cortex of the cerebrum, from the cerebellar nuclei (inhibitory), from the small cell part of the red nucleus (nucleus ruber, pars parvocellularis ) in the midbrain (excitatory) and from the spinal cord via the tractus spino-olivaris. The olive, in turn, transmits the signals to the cerebellum. This signal flow, which is mediated by the olivo-cerebellar, so-called climbing wires, is believed to enable the cerebellum to learn, store and adjust complicated movement programs.
Oliva inferior is the largest component of the olivainferior complex.