What does your thalamus control

In fact, the majority of all of the signals not just sensory that pass to the cortex first pass through the thalamus. Thus, the thalamus has a major role as a gatekeeper for information on its way to the cortex, making sure that the information gets sent to the right place.

However, to consider the thalamus as just a gatekeeper or relay station is selling this structure a bit short. A significant portion of the incoming fibers to the thalamus come not from sensory systems, but from the cortex itself.

There are many connections to the thalamus that are involved in taking information from the cortex, modulating it, and then sending it back to the cortex.

This means that the thalamus is an important part of cortical processing in general, and more than just a brief stop for signals on their way to the cortex. With this in mind, it shouldn't be that surprising that the thalamus is involved in complex brain processes like sleep and wakefulness. As these areas are linked with the limbic system, they are involved in organizing memory and emotion. The anterior nucleus essentially receives input from the limbic system and projects to the cingulate gyrus.

This nucleus relays information from the amygdala and olfactory cortex, which then projects to the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system, in turn relaying them to the prefrontal association cortex. Because of this, the dorsomedial nucleus has an important role in attention, organization, planning, and higher cognitive thinking.

These both act as relay nuclei sending somatosensory information to the somatosensory cortex , a region that receives and processes sensory information about the body. Further, the ventral posteromedial nucleus receives sensory information from the trigeminal nerve regarding the face.

These two nuclei are the motor relay nuclei, which receive inputs from the cerebellum and the basal ganglia.

They are thought to be involved in motor functions and both have pathways leading to the substantia nigra, premotor cortex, reticular formation, and the corpus striatum. The lateral posterior nucleus is believed to be involved in integrating sensory input and associating it with cognitive functions. Its other functions include being able to determine visual stimuli which stands out the most, and visually guided behaviors.

The pulvinar nucleus nucleus is thought to be involved in the processing of visual stimuli and with having strong connectivity to the visual cortex. The pulvinar nucleus projects to the amygdala and the striatum an area involved in decision-making, reinforcement, and motivation. This is thought to aid in relaying visual information to guide precise movements as well as relaying visual information to the amygdala. These nuclei are important for relaying auditory and visual information, respectively.

The lateral geniculate nucleus receives visual information from the retinas of the eyes, which projects to the visual cortex of the occipital lobe. The medial geniculate nucleus receives auditory information from the inferior colliculus a part of the midbrain that is the main auditory center and projects this to the primary auditory cortex within the temporal lobe.

The reticular nucleus forms a sheet that makes the outer covering of the thalamus and can influence the activity of other nuclei within the thalamus. The reticular nucleus receives input from the cerebral cortex as well as the dorsal thalamic nuclei.

This is the only nucleus of the thalamus that does not project out to the cerebral cortex, but instead modulates the information from other nuclei in the thalamus. Since the thalamus acts as a relay station from which it sends input and receives output from many brain structures, damage to this area can impact many brain functions. As the thalamus plays a key role in the sleep-wake regulation, damage to this area has been implicated in consciousness related disorders, as well as resulting in individuals being in a coma.

Due to the thalamus being important for generating normal sleep thalamocortical rhythms, sleep disorders may result from damage such as insomnia. Cerebral causes and consequences of parkinsonian resting tremor: a tale of two circuits?

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Pessoa, L. Peterson, B. It is also a part of what gives us consciousness. Specifically, the thalamo-cortico-thalamic circuit is integral to arousal, the physiology of being awake, alertness, and activity.

In fact, attention and focus disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder are specifically attributed to damage or physiological malfunctions of this circuit due to its role in regulating task-dependent activities during a state of rest. Additionally, it is central to the process of impulse inhibition. So damage to this pathway manifests in attention deficit disorder as well.

It is also hypothesized that the thalamus is not only limited to information gathered during consciousness but that it has access to the regulation and storage of information gathered during unconsciousness as well. Interpretation of this information, however, is limited to a conscious state. You can almost think of this as your awareness of your dreams during deep sleep.

Some have said that our dreams are made up of an amalgamation of information that our brain has gathered subconsciously over time — so think of the dream you had most recently. During the dream , you may have felt that certain aspects of it were familiar. It may have been very difficult to recall this information after you woke up, but there may have been details here and there that pop up in your mind that make you say — Oh!

Now, I remember! Note, this is just an example. I am not currently aware of any scientific evidence of the information recalled during the dream state. Secondly, the thalamus is responsible for filtering information traveling throughout the nervous system.

Remember the numerous connections the thalamus has to structures in the nervous and limbic systems? This is done by allowing information that is directly related to that stimulus to pass through to the higher cortical areas and brainstem.

Its capabilities extend past these few — with the exception of olfactory sensations. However, with the other sensations and general awareness, the thalamus is unable to specify the location or intensity of the sensations outside of those primary few.