Arbor vitaeThe branching white matter inside the cerebellum. Its Latin name means tree of life.
FoliaThe thin, leaf-like folds of the surface. One of them is a folium.
Cerebellar cortexThe tightly folded sheet of gray matter that covers the cerebellum.
Fourth ventricleA space between the cerebellum and the brainstem. The pons and medulla lie in front of it.
PonsThe bulging part of the brainstem, in front of the cerebellum.
Medulla oblongataThe lowest part of the brainstem, below the pons.
Flocculonodular lobe (nodule)The smallest of the three lobes, low on the front. This cut shows its midline part, the nodule; a flocculus lies on each side.
Posterolateral fissureThe fissure that sets the flocculonodular lobe apart from the rest.
From above 5
VermisThe narrow middle strip that joins the two hemispheres. Its Latin name means worm.
Cerebellar hemisphereOne of the two large halves of the cerebellum. There is one on each side of the vermis.
Anterior lobeThe lobe in front of the primary fissure.
Posterior lobeThe lobe between the primary fissure and the posterolateral fissure.
Primary fissureThe deep groove that separates the anterior lobe from the posterior lobe.
How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-01 in at least two of these. (1) Wikipedia, English edition, Cerebellum, Anatomy of the cerebellum, Flocculonodular lobe and Cerebellar vermis, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebellum, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomy_of_the_cerebellum, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flocculonodular_lobe (two hemispheres and a midline vermis; the folded cortex over white matter called the arbor vitae; anterior and posterior lobes either side of the primary fissure; the flocculonodular lobe made of the nodule and two flocculi; pons, medulla, fourth ventricle). (2) Henry Gray, Anatomy of the Human Body (1918), The Hind-brain or Rhombencephalon, https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/anatomy-of-the-human-body/4a-the-hind-brain-or-rhombencephalon/ (vermis and hemispheres, folia or laminae, the arbor vitae in a sagittal section, the nodule, the fourth ventricle, pons and medulla oblongata). (3) Neuroscience Online, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Section 3, Chapter 5, Cerebellum, https://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/m/s3/chapter05.html (the posterolateral fissure separates the flocculonodular lobe; the primary fissure separates the anterior lobe from the posterior lobe; vermis and lateral hemispheres; cerebellar cortex). (4) TeachMeAnatomy, The Cerebellum, https://teachmeanatomy.info/neuroanatomy/structures/cerebellum/ (two hemispheres joined by the vermis; gray matter folded into the cerebellar cortex over white matter; three lobes divided by the primary and posterolateral fissures; the fourth ventricle between the cerebellum and the pons). Detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work
How it works
The first drawing is the cerebellum cut down the middle, with the pons and medulla in front of it. The second is its upper surface from above. Together they hold the anatomical features of the cerebellum that a lab figure asks for.
Read the full guide
The cut face first, then the surface
Numbers 1 to 3 are in the cut face: the arbor vitae, the folia and the cerebellar cortex. Numbers 4 to 6 are in front of it: the fourth ventricle, the pons and the medulla oblongata. Numbers 7 and 8 are low on the front of the cerebellum: the flocculonodular lobe and the posterolateral fissure. Numbers 9 to 13 are on the surface from above: the vermis, a cerebellar hemisphere, and on the other half the anterior lobe, the posterior lobe and the primary fissure between them.
Arbor vitae and folia are a pair: the tree is the white matter inside, and the folia are the folds at its tips.
Two fissures make three lobes: primary between anterior and posterior, posterolateral in front of the flocculonodular.
Questions and answers
What is the arbor vitae?
The cerebellum's white matter. In a cut down the middle it branches like a tree inside the folded cortex, and its Latin name means tree of life.
What are the folia of the cerebellum?
The thin, leaf-like folds of its surface. The cortex is one continuous sheet folded tightly like an accordion, so the surface shows as fine parallel grooves with a folium between each pair.
What are the three lobes of the cerebellum?
The anterior lobe, the posterior lobe and the flocculonodular lobe. The primary fissure separates the first two, and the posterolateral fissure sets the flocculonodular lobe apart from the rest.
Where do the labels go when a figure says to drag the appropriate labels to their respective targets?
On a cut cerebellum, arbor vitae goes on the branching shape inside and folia on the small folds at the edge. Cerebellar cortex is the layer between them, and the fourth ventricle is the space in front.