Blood-Brain Barrier and Cerebral Perfusion Practice Test 2026 – The All-In-One Guide to Mastering Your Exam!

Pontine arteries, small perforating branches that arise from the basilar artery, supply the pons. They penetrate the ventral surface of the pons and radiate to its deep nuclei and white matter, providing the key blood flow to this brainstem structure. The basilar artery is the parent vessel, delivering these pontine branches along its course, but the direct suppliers to the pons are the pontine arteries themselves. The superior cerebellar artery mainly serves the superior aspect of the cerebellum (with some brainstem regions) rather than the pons as a whole, and the anterior spinal artery supplies the ventral medulla and spinal cord, not the pons.