Thalamus ‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحیم‬

Functional Organization

 Thalamus is an egg-shaped nuclear structure sitting obliquely atop the brain stem.

 It is known as the sensory relay station.

 It receives ascending sensory inputs and projects them to the sensory cortical areas.

 Afferent fibers of the ascending

geniculate bodies.

 The ventral posterior group, also known as ventrobasal complex, consists of ventroposterolateral and ventroposteromedian
groups of nuclei

 However, physiologically there are four groups of nuclei:

 Specific relay nuclei: Ascending afferent inputs synapse on these nuclei

.  The axons arising from them transmit the afferent impulse to cortex.

 This nuclear group consists of ventrobasal complex (VBC), lateral geniculate body (LGB), medial geniculate body (MGB), and
anterior nucleus.

--VBC receives inputs from dorsal column pathway, anterolateral system and corticothalamic fibers, and projects to
somatosensory cortex.

--The trigeminal lemniscus carries the general sensations from face along with the gustatory afferents and project to the ventral
posterior (VP) nucleus that transmits the afferent inputs to the postcentral gyrus.

--LGB receives input from optic tract and projects to visual cortex.

--MGB receives input from auditory pathway and projects to auditory cortex.

--The anterior nucleus receives inputs from the hypothalamus through the mammillothalamic tract and relays the information
to the cingulate gyrus.

 Association nuclei: This nuclear group consists of pulvinar, dorsal nuclei and lateral posterior nucleus. --These nuclei receive
inputs from sensory cortex and limbic system and project diffusely to the association cortex or to sub-cortical structures. --The
pulvinar projects to the inferior parietal lobe.

--The dosolateral nucleus is reciprocally connected to the precuneate gyrus

 Non-specific nuclei: These include intralaminar (IM), midline, centromedian (CM) nuclei, and reticular nuclei (RET).

 They receive inputs mainly from reticular formation and paleospinothalamic tract, and also inputs from striatum,
hypothalamus and other thalamic nuclei.

--They project diffusely to wide areas of cerebral cortex, to thalamus and limbic system

 Motor nuclei: These include lateral, ventral anterior and ventral lateral nuclei

 The ventral lateral nucleus receives input from the cerebellum through the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract and projects to the
motor cortex area 4 and 6.

 The ventral anterior nucleus receives inputs from basal ganglia and projects to the premotor cortex.  The thalamic nuclei

 The VPL and PO project to cortical regions.

 IM diffusely projects to cortex and RET is reciprocally connected with other thalamic nuclei

Ventral Posterolateral Nucleus (VPL)

 The VPL receives input from many of ascending sensory pathways.

 Each pathway has a typical pattern of termination in VPL nucleus.

 The central core of VPL nucleus receives largely cutaneous inputs.

 The dorsal aspect of VPL receives mostly deep inputs, whereas anterior surface receives muscle inputs.

 Responses in IM are strongly affected by the level of arousal, attention and affect.

 Cells in reticular nuclei (RET) respond to a variety of somatosensory modalities.

 IM has diffuse but strong projection to the cortex, striatum and limbic system.

 RET does not project to cortex but is reciprocally connected to other thalamic nuclei.

 Thus, RET is involved in the modulation of thalamic activity.

Functions of Thalamus

 All afferent impulses on their way to the sensory cortex terminate in the thalamus.

considerably in cortical lesion.

 Motor Functions: Thalamus is an integral part of motor loop of the brain in which globus pallidus of basal ganglia projects
mainly to VPL nucleus of thalamus (via pallidothalamic tract) and thalamus projects to the motor cortex (via thalamocortical
fibers), which projects back to the basal ganglia.

 Through motor loop thalamus influences postural movements

.  Thalamus also links cerebellum and motor cortex via dentatorubro-thalamo-cortical tract.

 Through this connection, thalamus influences planning and programming of movements.

 Memory and Emotion: Anterior thalamus is a constituent of Papez circuit.

 It receives input from mamillary body of limbic system via mamillothalamic tract.

 Through this connection, thalamus is concerned with recent memory and emotion.

 Synchronization of EEG: Stimulation of intralaminar thalamic nuclei at low frequency causes synchronization of EEG waves
recorded from ipsilateral cortex.

 This is called recruiting response.

 However, high frequency stimulation causes arousal and desync

and improvement in motor output.

 Language and Speech: Dorsal lateral nucleus of thalamus is reciprocally connected with parietal lobe of the brain, and
therefore is concerned with language and speech and complex integrated functions.

Thalamus ‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحیم‬

Functional Organization

 Thalamus is an egg-shaped nuclear structure sitting obliquely atop the brain stem.

 It is known as the sensory relay station.

 It receives ascending sensory inputs and projects them to the sensory cortical areas.

 Afferent fibers of the ascending reticular formation also project to thalamus and thalamus receives input from the cortex,
mainly from the layer VI.

 There are two thalami on both sides.

 Anteriorly they are separated by the third ventricle and the corpora quadrigemina is present between their posterior parts

 The anterior group of nuclei is enclosed by the bifurcation of the internal medullary lamina.

 The medial group of nuclei consists of the medial nucleus, the midline nucleus, centromedian and the intralaminar nucleus.

 The lateral group of nuclei is further divided into dorsal and ventral nuclear groups of nuclei.

 The dorsal nuclear group contains lateral posterior nucleus, lateral dorsal nucleus and pulvinar.

 The ventral nuclear group is comprised of ventral anterior, ventral lateral and ventral posterior nuclei, and medial and lateral
geniculate bodies.

 The ventral posterior group, also known as ventrobasal complex, consists of ventroposterolateral and ventroposteromedian
groups of nuclei

--MGB receives input from auditory pathway and projects to auditory cortex.

--The anterior nucleus receives inputs from the hypothalamus through the mammillothalamic tract and relays the information
to the cingulate gyrus.

 Association nuclei: This nuclear group consists of pulvinar, dorsal nuclei and lateral posterior nucleus. --These nuclei receive
inputs from sensory cortex and limbic system and project diffusely to the association cortex or to sub-cortical structures. --The
pulvinar projects to the inferior parietal lobe.

--The dosolateral nucleus is reciprocally connected to the precuneate gyrus

 Non-specific nuclei: These include intralaminar (IM), midline, centromedian (CM) nuclei, and reticular nuclei (RET).

 They receive inputs mainly from reticular formation and paleospinothalamic tract, and also inputs from striatum,
hypothalamus and other thalamic nuclei.

--They project diffusely to wide areas of cerebral cortex, to thalamus and limbic system

 Motor nuclei: These include lateral, ventral anterior and ventral lateral nuclei

 The ventral lateral nucleus receives input from the cerebellum through the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract and projects to the
motor cortex area 4 and 6.

 The ventral anterior nucleus receives inputs from basal ganglia and projects to the premotor cortex.  The thalamic nuclei
are also divided into extrinsic and intrinsic nuclei.

 The specific relay nuclei are known as extrinsic nuclei and rest others as intrinsic nuclei.

 It should be noted that all somatosensory information reaches all of these different types of thalamic nuclei.

THALAMIC ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS

 The ascending somatosensory pathways terminate in certain thalamic nuclei.

 The sensory signals mostly arise form contralateral receptors of the body.

 Axons from cells in the dorsal column nuclei cross the brain stem immediately at the level of the medulla and travel in the
contralateral medial lemniscus to terminate primarily in the ventralposterolateral nucleus (VPL) of the thalamus.

 The fibers of the anterolateral system (lateral and anterior spinothalamic tracts) travel in the contralateral anterolateral
funiculus of the spinal cord to terminate in the VPL, posterior (PO) and intralaminar (IM) nuclei

 Reticulo-thalamic fibers of the spinoreticulothalamic pathway remain largely uncrossed and terminate in IM, midline or
centromedian (CM) nuclei, and in the thalamic reticular nuclei (RET).

 The VPL and PO project to cortical regions.

 IM diffusely projects to cortex and RET is reciprocally connected with other thalamic nuclei
Ventral Posterolateral Nucleus (VPL)

 The VPL receives input from many of ascending sensory pathways.

 Each pathway has a typical pattern of termination in VPL nucleus.

 The central core of VPL nucleus receives largely cutaneous inputs.

 The dorsal aspect of VPL receives mostly deep inputs, whereas anterior surface receives muscle inputs.

 Thus, the VPL consists of a core of cutaneous inputs and a shell of deep inputs.

 The afferent fibers from the face, arm and leg are represented in a medial to lateral manner in the VPL nucleus.

Posterior Nuclei (PO)

 PO receives nociceptive inputs.

 Cells in PO respond to a variety of somatic and non-somatic modalities.

 PO is mainly involved in the transmission of nociceptive impulses.

 Large lesion in PO produces analgesia and stimulation of PO produces pain sensations.

 However, there is no somatotopic organization in PO.

Intralaminar Nuclei and Reticular Nuclei

 Cells in intralaminar nuclei (IM) have large, somatic receptive fields.

 They are activated by nociceptive and other sensory stimuli.

 Responses in IM are strongly affected by the level of arousal, attention and affect.

 Cells in reticular nuclei (RET) respond to a variety of somatosensory modalities.

 IM has diffuse but strong projection to the cortex, striatum and limbic system.

 RET does not project to cortex but is reciprocally connected to other thalamic nuclei.

 Thus, RET is involved in the modulation of thalamic activity.

Functions of Thalamus

 All afferent impulses on their way to the sensory cortex terminate in the thalamus.

 Relay station for all somatic sensations: Thalamus conveys the sensory information to the cortex through thalamocortical
projections.

 Thus, it is the major relay station for sensory inputs in humans and higher order of animals, whereas in lower order of
animals, it acts as the center for sensory integration.

 Relay of special sensations: Thalamus is the relay center for all special sensations except olfaction.

 The lateral and medial geniculate bodies receive the visual and auditory afferents respectively.

 The VPL nucleus receives the taste afferents.

 Arousal mechanisms: Thalamocortical projects from nonspecific nuclei to cortex contributes to reticular activating system
that activates arousal mechanisms and keeps the individual awake.

 Subcortical Perception of Sensations: Subcortical perception of pain, temperature, pressure (crude touch) occurs to some
extent in thalamus.

 Thalamus is not only the relay station, but also the integration center for these sensations.
 Therefore, these sensations remain intact considerably in cortical lesion.

 Motor Functions: Thalamus is an integral part of motor loop of the brain in which globus pallidus of basal ganglia projects
mainly to VPL nucleus of thalamus (via pallidothalamic tract) and thalamus projects to the motor cortex (via thalamocortical
fibers), which projects back to the basal ganglia.

 Through motor loop thalamus influences postural movements

.  Thalamus also links cerebellum and motor cortex via dentatorubro-thalamo-cortical tract.

 Through this connection, thalamus influences planning and programming of movements.

 Memory and Emotion: Anterior thalamus is a constituent of Papez circuit.

 It receives input from mamillary body of limbic system via mamillothalamic tract.

 Through this connection, thalamus is concerned with recent memory and emotion.

 Synchronization of EEG: Stimulation of intralaminar thalamic nuclei at low frequency causes synchronization of EEG waves
recorded from ipsilateral cortex.

 This is called recruiting response.

 However, high frequency stimulation causes arousal and desynchronization.

 Role in Sleep: A circuit linking the thalamus and cortex (thalamocortical loop) is important in generating the pattern of brain
activity in sleep-wake cycle.

 Inhibitory thalamic reticular neurons are proposed to be the part of this neuronal network that causes induction of sleep.

 Sensory Motor Coordination: Thalamus receives all sensory inputs from the body and closely interacts with basal ganglia,
cerebellum and motor cortex.

 Therefore, thalamus is one of the major structures in the brain for coordination between sensory and motor functions,
especially in the sensory feedback for correction and improvement in motor output.

 Language and Speech: Dorsal lateral nucleus of thalamus is reciprocally connected with parietal lobe of the brain, and
therefore is concerned with language and speech and complex integrated functions.