The structure comprises the rostral aspect of the midbrain structure, in front of the central gray and adjacent the inferior collicus. Superior collicus efferents originate in the cerebral cortex, the inferior collicus, the retina the spinal cord.
The comparable area of the mesencephalon of non-mammalian vertebrates is called the optic tectum. The optic tectum in some vertebrates resembles the complexity of the cerebral cortex, but the role of the superior collicus for visual discrimination is less prominent in animals more complex than reptiles.
In humans, as in most larger vertebrates, sensory information is relayed through the mesencephalon to the thalamus and cerebral cortex for interpretation.
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