a slender cell column extending sagittally through the posterior (dorsal) part of the medulla oblongata, beneath the floor of the rhomboid fossa, immediately lateral to the limiting sulcus. This cell column is composed of smaller individual nuclei, and collectively they are the visceral sensory (visceral afferent) nuclei of the brainstem, receiving the afferent fibers of the vagus, glossopharyngeal, and facial nerves by way of the solitary tract. The caudal two thirds of the nucleus processes impulses originating in the pharynx, larynx, intestinal and respiratory tracts, and heart and large blood vessels; its rostral one third receives impulses from the taste buds and is known as the rhombencephalic gustatory nucleus. The individual nuclei that collectively make up what is commonly called the solitary nucleus are: parasolitary nucleus [TA] (nucleus parasolitarius [TA]), commissural nucleus [TA] (nucleus commissuralis [TA]), gelatinous solitary nucleus [TA] (nucleus gelatinosus solitarius [TA]), intermediate solitary nucleus [TA] (nucleus intermedius solitarius [TA]), interstitial solitary nucleus [TA] (nucleus interstitialis solitarius [TA]), medial solitary nucleus [TA] (nucleus medialis solitarius [TA]), paracommissural solitary nucleus [TA] (nucleus paracommissuralis solitarius [TA]), posterior solitary nucleus [TA] or dorsal solitary nucleus [TAalt] (nucleus solitarius posterior [TA]), posterolateral solitary nucleus [TA] or dorsolateral solitary nucleus [TAalt] (nucleus solitarius posterolateralis [TA]), anterior solitary nucleus [TA] or ventral solitary nucleus [TAalt] (nucleus solitarius anterior [TA]), and anterolateral solitary nucleus [TA] or ventrolateral solitary nucleus [TA] (nucleus solitarius anterolateralis [TA]). SYN: nuclei tractus solitarii [TA].