Structure-Function

thalamus (thal' uh mus)

• A large mass of gray matter deeply situated in the forebrain. There is one on either side of the midline. Sometimes they are interconnected at the massa intermedia.

• It relays to the cerebral cortex information received from diverse brain regions. Sort of a requisite 'last pit stop' for information going to cortex.

• Axons from every sensory system (except olfaction) synapse here as the last relay site before the information reaches the cerebral cortex.

• There are other thalamic nuclei that receive input from cerebellar-, basal ganglia- and limbic-related brain regions.

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