Structures Associated with the Thalamus Flashcards
What is the thalamus?
sensory relay system of the brain
What is the interthalamic adhesion?
A flattened grey disk joining the thalami of each side behind the interventricular foramen.
It is not in every human
What is the hypothalamic sulcus?
A shallow groove on the lateral wall of the third ventricle extending from the cerebral aqueduct to the interventricular foramen which divides the diencephalon into dorsal and ventral parts
What does the medial geniculate nucleus (/body) do?
Relays auditory information from the midbrain to the auditory cortex and passes some fibres via the inferior brachium to the inferior colliculi
What does the lateral geniculate nucleus (/body) do?
Relays visual information from the optic nerve to both the visual cortex via the optic radiation (for vision) ans the superior colliculi via the superior brachium (for pupillary reflexes)
What is the hypothalamus?
A ventral part of the diencephalon, it sits below the thalamus and above the pituitary gland. It is directly above the brainstem.
Contributes to homeostasis and control of the autonomic nervous systems and neuroendocrine systems
What is the subthalamus?
The subthalamus is the most ventral part of the diencephalon. It lies in between the thalamus and the midbrain. he largest division of the subthalamus is the subthalamic nucleus that is involved with integration of somatic motor function
What are the three main types of myelineated axons that form white matter?
Association fibres
Commissural fibres
Projection fibres
What do association fibres do?
They link cortical regions within one cerebral hemisphere
What do commissural fibres do?
They link similar functional areas of the two hemispheres e.g. the corpus callosum
What do projection fibres do?
They link they cortex with subcortical structures such as the thalamus and spinal cord via the internal capsule and corona radiata
