Most of the things you set out to do in life are tied to your ability to build the discipline necessary to do it.
That’s why it’s very important to understand how the brain works. However, the brain is one of the most complicated structures in our body. Thanks to him we are not only what we are but we are able to exist and carry out too many functions.
In this article we tell you everything you need to know about one of the most important areas of the brain, the thalamus.
Because if you want to know more about your brain in order to understand how it works and how to get the best out of it, you need to know each of its structures and what their functions are.
What is the thalamus?
The thalamusis one of the areas of the brain located at the base of it. It is the gray matter that serves to transmit sensory information through neurons and travels from the spinal cord and brainstem to the cerebral cortex.
The thalamus can determine the location, type, and duration of sensations so that it can react to them accordingly. For example, if you hit your toe, you’ll feel a pain in your foot for a minute or two.
Having this information available helps you correct your course by making sure you walk more carefully inside the house or wear a pair of shoes when you do to provide extra protection for your feet.
Thalamus structure
The thalamus has a unique structure containing several nuclei, called intralaminar nuclei and reticular nuclei. It has an anterior pole and a posterior pole.
In addition there are four surfaces that are medial, lateral, upper and lower. On the other hand, the thalamus plays the role of connecting with the nervous and limbic system.
Below, you’ll see more information about the different parts of the thalamus and their different nuclei and their functions.
Specific cores
There are three types of thalamic nuclei which are sensory relay nuclei, specific nuclei and non-specific nuclei.
Each of these has a precise role. For example, specific nuclei are responsible for transmitting primary sensations from various parts of the body to the brain in the appropriate area of the cortex.
The cores consist of two parts. They are the posterior ventral nucleus, as well as the lateral and medial geniculate body.
nonspecific nuclei
On the other hand are the non-specific nuclei, also known as intralaminar and midline thalamic nuclei.
These nuclei receive information from the cerebral cortex, and then the brain must be able to decipher it. They connect brain activity and have a role in different functions, including alerting the brain to possible danger or discomfort.
Associated Nuclei
These nuclei regulate an activity. In this sense, they obtain information from the cerebral cortex and project it to the different areas of our body.
neurons
The thalamus is a centrally located brain structure consisting of a large number of groups of gray matter or groups of neurons, called nuclei, with various functions and connections.
According to an academic press from Harvard Medical School, neurons are stimulated by different experiences that are transmitted in patterns of activity in brain cells.
Researchers want to track these patterns of activity to better understand how the brain makes sense of the world, but they have been limited by nature and by the small fraction of neurons they can study at a time—just a few thousand out of an estimated 100 billion. .
Glial Cells
Glial cells are a type of non-neuronal cells of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and peripheral nervous system, which do not produce electrical impulses.
Their main function is to maintain homeostasis, they form myelin and provide support and protection to neurons.
Thalamus features
One of the main projections of the thalamus is its incidence on the senses. There are five senses: taste, touch, smell, hearing, and vision. All but smell are affected by the thalamus, which transmits information about the different sensations one experiences.
When you have a pleasant experience with one of your senses, it stays in your memory banks for you to remember forever. You start to associate a good memory with the feeling and you may want to re-experience it because you enjoyed it so much.
Similarly, if, for example, you have a bad experience with something you’ve eaten, you’re likely to be repulsed every time you see, smell, taste, or touch the food in question.
Whatever you feel is mainly due to sensory information transmitted to the thalamus. If you touch a hot stove, you know not to do it again, thanks to the thalamus, for fear of burning yourself.
It is part of the diencephalon
The diencephalonis a small part of the brain that is hidden from view when looking at the outside of the brain. This region is divided into four parts: the epithalamus, the thalamus, the subthalamus, and the hypothalamus.
It is one of the largest structures
The thalamus is the largest structure derived from the embryonic diencephalon, the posterior part of the forebrain located between the midbrain and the cerebrum.
Not only is the thalamus one of the largest parts of the brain, but it also plays an important role in many functions that don’t have much to do with each other.
Involved in important mental processes
The thalamus performs several important functions, ranging from the transmission of sensory and motor signals, to the regulation of consciousness and alertness.
In the same way, it also complies with important mental processes related to damage and the senses, to detect danger.
It has a symmetrical shape
A studypublished in JAMA Neurology concluded that the thalamic areas were mostly symmetrical. This group includes the ventral nucleus, the lateral ventral nucleus, and the posterolateral and inferior ventral nucleus.
Maintains cortical activity
In addition to all of its sensory functions, the thalamus functions as a kind of signal command center. The reticular nucleus is responsible for controlling cortical activity.
Does not intervene in the olfactory function
For many years it was thought that the olfactory pathway also passed through the thalamus, however recent anatomical studies have shown that the route between the olfactory cortex and the prefrontal cortex is almost direct, so it does not pass through the thalamus, which means that it does not intervene in the olfactory function.
Communicates with the cortex in a reciprocal and bidirectional manner
The interactions of the thalamus and the cerebral cortex work in a reciprocal and bidirectional way, since the neural interactions in the thalamus-cortex direction are significantly increased.
Lesions in the thalamus cause great deficiencies
According to a study published in Hindawi, it explains that thalamic lesions can cause a multitude of disorders including vascular diseases, metabolic disorders, inflammatory diseases, trauma, tumors and infections.
Functions of the thalamus
The thalamus fulfills many functions in the body, in addition to regulating sensory impulses, both pain and pleasure, it also fulfills important functions related to the five senses.
It also controls other functions of the body such as the response to corticosteroids, regulating sleep and the wake cycle, controlling movement, regulating consciousness, regulating motor aspects of the body, and many others that we will be seeing below.
processes sensory information
One of the main characteristics and functions of the thalamus is that it works as a kind of mediator between the impulses sent through the synapses of the neurons that connect the body with our brain.
In other words, if you burn your finger, your finger perceives the heat and the neurons will transform this temptation of heat and through the thalamus reach the information that tells the brain that this burns or hurts, and therefore, this sensory information to that you remove your hand from the fire because if you don’t you will burn and it will hurt you.
That is why the thalamus has played a very important role in the evolution of the human being.
Thanks to this sensory information, we have been able to survive all these years and evolve, moving away from things that hurt us, from foods that can taste bad or intoxicate us, and even from dangerous people, predatory animals, and other factors that they can end up hurting us or even killing us.
Regulates the sleep-wake cycle
A study published by Nature, explains that sleep is a thalamic function, but it is assisted by melatonin, which acts by promoting the formation of the spindle. Thus, melatonin has a modulating influence on the initiation and maintenance of sleep.
Together, the thalamus and the chronobiological control of sleep lead to a new and improved understanding of the pathophysiology of circadian rhythm sleep disorders and also the principle of sleep hygiene interventions.
Control The Movement
The motor thalamus is implicated in movement control because it is strategically located between motor areas of the cerebral cortex and motor-related subcortical structures such as the cerebellum and basal ganglia.
intervenes in consciousness
A study published in Science Direct has shown that neurons in the thalamus and deeper cortices are more sensitive to changes in the level of consciousness, consistent with different anesthetic agents and sleep.
This means that the thalamus plays a very important role when it comes to modulating consciousness. This is partly because the thalamus plays a very essential role in the sleep-wake cycle.
Influences the motor aspects of language
When it comes to encoding and decoding speech, not only the cerebral cortex matters, but also the thalamus, whose function is to receive projections from the cortex and nervous system and send the information to the entire cortex.
Sensory, motor and associative nervous mechanisms are involved in the speech process, which are interconnected.
Participates in the ability to focus attention
We can say that the most important function of the thalamus is to integrate sensory information directed to the cortex.
In fact, it transmits most of the information from the cerebral cortex and integrates various sensory modalities, facilitating or inhibiting the projections towards some lobes or others.
Participates in the integration of emotions
Emotions are mainly regulated in the limbic system. This system regulates endocrine function in response to emotional stimuli and participates in the reinforcement of behavior.
The limbic system is made up of four parts: the hypothalamus, the amygdala, the thalamus, and the hippocampus.
Contributes to the organization of memory
The thalamus is functionally connected to the hippocampus as part of its system, extending into the anterior thalamic nuclei with respect to spatial memory and spatial sensory input, both of which are crucial for human episodic memory and rodent event memory.
Involved in the regulation of arousal
The thalamus plays an important role in regulating arousal, level of consciousness, and activity.
On the other hand, the thalamus has generally been regarded as a “gate” for sexual information traveling from the spinal cord to higher centers.
University Professional in the area of Human Resources, Postgraduate in Occupational Health and Hygiene of the Work Environment, 14 years of experience in the area of health. Interested in topics of Psychology, Occupational Health, and General Medicine.