| reticular nucleus of thalamus | A sheet of fairly large neurons covering the lateral, ventral, and rostral surfaces of the thalamus; its reticular appearance is caused by the numerous fascicles of the thalamic peduncles which traverse the nucleus The nucleus receives numerous fibres from the cerebral cortex but it has no cortical projection. Synonym: nucleus reticularis thalami. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| posterior medial nucleus of thalamus | Medial part of the ventrobasal nuclear complex. See: ventral posterior nucleus of thalamus. Synonym: nucleus ventralis posteromedialis thalami. (05 Mar 2000) |
| intralaminar nuclei of thalamus | Collective term denoting several cell groups embedded in the internal medullary lamina of the thalamus: central lateral nucleus, paracentral nucleus, and farthest caudally, the large centromedian nucleus. The first two of these receive afferents from the cerebral cortex, brainstem, reticular formation, cerebellum, and spinal cord, and project more or less diffusely to large regions of the frontal and parietal cortex. See: centromedian nucleus. Synonym: nuclei intralaminares thalami. (05 Mar 2000) |
| thalamus | <anatomy> Either of two large, ovoid masses, consisting chiefly of grey substance, situated one on each side of and forming part of the lateral wall of the third ventricle. It is divided into two major parts: dorsal and ventral, each of which contains many nuclei. Origin: L., Gr. Thalamos = inner chamber (18 Nov 1997) |
| lateral nucleus of thalamus | The largest of the major subdivisions of the thalamus; the composite lateral nucleus includes, from before backward, the nucleus lateralis anterior or dorsalis, nucleus lateralis intermedius, nucleus lateralis posterior, and pulvinar; together, these cell groups form most of the free dorsal surface of the posterior half of the thalamus and project to a very large region of parietal, occipitoparietal, and temporal cortex; its afferent connections are largely obscure, but the nucleus lateralis posterior and the pulvinar receive a projection from the superior colliculus. Synonym: nucleus lateralis thalami. (05 Mar 2000) |