supraoptic nucleus

The supraoptic nucleus (SON) is a nucleus of magnocellular neurosecretory cells in the hypothalamus of the mammalian brain. The nucleus is situated at the base of the brain, adjacent to the optic chiasm. [WP,unvetted]. Every claim on this page comes from the Leumas anatomy graph and carries its source.

What the supraoptic nucleus is

The supraoptic nucleus (SON) is a nucleus of magnocellular neurosecretory cells in the hypothalamus of the mammalian brain. The nucleus is situated at the base of the brain, adjacent to the optic chiasm. [WP,unvetted]. The atlas records it as a nerve at the organ scale in the human body.

Where the supraoptic nucleus is

It sits within the nervous system. Not positioned individually. Drawn inside the structure this dataset says contains it — the containment is asserted, the exact spot within it is not.

What the supraoptic nucleus connects to

The atlas records 5 typed relationships for it, across 4 kinds of connection. part of anterior hypothalamic region and periventricular zone of hypothalamus.

Supply and innervation

This dataset asserts no arterial supply, venous drainage or innervation for the supraoptic nucleus. Only a minority of structures carry those edges here, so an empty answer means nothing has been recorded — not that there is nothing to record.

Also called

Also recorded as SO, nucleus supraopticus, supra-optic nucleus, supraoptic nucleus of hypothalamus, nucleus supraopticus hypothalami and nucleus tangentialis (Riley), and 3 more. Searching any of those names reaches this page.

Source

Uberon multi-species anatomy ontology (Mungall et al.), CC BY 4.0. Term UBERON:0001929, version 2026-06-19, retrieved 2026-08-24. Licence: CC-BY-4.0.

• Part of: anterior hypothalamic region and periventricular zone of hypothalamus.
• A kind of: hypothalamic nucleus.
• contributes to morphology of: hypothalamus.
• contains: dorsolateral part of supraoptic nucleus.

Questions

Where is the supraoptic nucleus?

It sits within the nervous system. Not positioned individually. Drawn inside the structure this dataset says contains it — the containment is asserted, the exact spot within it is not.

What does the supraoptic nucleus connect to?

Part of: anterior hypothalamic region and periventricular zone of hypothalamus.

Is the supraoptic nucleus the same in other species?

Leumas holds the same relationship vocabulary for every species it carries, so where another dataset records this structure you can put the two side by side on /compare.