The anterior cerebral artery is a large blood vessel located on the inferior surface of the anterior portion of cerebrum. It is one of the two terminal branches of the internal carotid artery, the other being the middle cerebral artery. It supplies a large area of the frontal lobe and part of the parietal. The anterior cerebral is part of the circle of Willis, which is a ring of arteries formed by the anastomoses of branches given off by the internal carotid and basilar artery.
After it arises from the internal carotid, the anterior cerebral artery runs forwards and medially, stretching over the optic nerve. Then it turns upwards and forwards, running into the longitudinal fissure on the medial surface of the frontal lobe of the respective cerebral hemisphere. Next, it curves upwards and backwards around the genu of the corpus callosum, stretching all the way back to the beginning of the occipital lobe, to the border between its medial and external surface.
The first portion of the anterior cerebral artery gives rise to some small branches, which pass through the anterior perforated substance to the nuclei of the inferior surface of the cerebral hemisphere. On the level of the optic chiasma, the anterior cerebral is connected with the contralateral artery by means of the anterior communicating artery. Along its course, the anterior cerebral artery sends cortical branches, which give rise to the orbital, frontal, parietal, and central branches, supplying the cortex of the medial surface of the frontal and parietal lobes as well as the corpus callosum and the olfactory tract and bulb.
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| Above, inferior view of human brain, showing the anterior cerebral artery |