This power point is made available as an educational resource or study aid for your use only. This presentation may not be duplicated for others and should not be redistributed or posted anywhere on the internet or on any personal websites. Your use of this resource is with the acknowledgment and acceptance of those restrictions. Thalamus and the Internal Capsule MHD - Neuroanatomy Course February 2, 2016 Gregory Gruener, MD, MBA Vice Dean for Education, SSOM Professor & Associate Chair, Department of Neurology LUHS/Trinity and Catholic Health Care East Outcomes you need to be able to demonstrate List the major subdivisions of the diencephalon and the thalamus Identify the internal medullary lamina and intralaminar nuclei Define the three functional groups of the thalamus Summarize the function of the reticular nucleus of the thalamus List what afferents supply individual thalamic nuclei and where those thalamic nuclei project 1
Basic pathway of sensory information to the thalamus 4. Interpreted 3. Looked at & analyzed 2. Transmitted 1. Information gets collected Anterolateral tract Gray s anatomy: The anatomical basis of clinical practice, 40 th edition; Churchill Livingstone, London Thalamus Lancet Neurol 2014; 13: 100 12 General Anatomical Overview Divisions of the Diencephalon Epithalamus (pineal gland, habenula, stria medullaris) Dorsal thalamus Subthalamus (subthalamic nucleus, zona incerta) Hypothalamus Dorsal thalamus Internal medullary lamina Anterior division nuclei Medial division nuclei Lateral division nuclei Intralaminar nuclei Thalamic reticular nuclei Midline nuclei 2
Nolte J and Angevine JB. The Human Brain in photographs and diagrams. 3 rd edition, 2007; Mosby Elsevier Fitzgerald MJT, Gruener G, Mtui E. Clinical Neuroanatomy and related Neuroscience, 56 th Ed., W. B. Saunders 2012 3
Common functional principles Thalamic nuclei decide what information passes Classification of nuclei location and input/outputs Consist of projection (majority) and inhibitory neurons Inputs into the thalamus Specific e.g., posterior column/medial lemniscus pathway Use glutamate as their neurotransmitter Regulatory Majority (Cortex, thalamic reticular nucleus, reticular formation, aminergic projections) Functional thalamic groups Three groupings Specific or relay nuclei Well defined inputs and projections Anterior, ventral anterior, ventral lateral, ventral posterior, lateral dorsal, medial and lateral geniculate Association nuclei Reciprocally connected to association cortex Lateral posterior, pulvinar, medial dorsal nuclei Non-specific nuclei Not the same point-to-point connections like relay nuclei Intralaminar and thalamic reticular nuclei Specific or relay nuclei Nolte J. The Human Brain, 6 th edition, 2009; Mosby Elsevier 4
Specific or relay nucleus (specificity) Specific or relay nuclei VPL VPM Lateral Posterior Dorsomedia l Functional thalamic groups Three groupings Specific or relay nuclei Well defined inputs and projections Anterior, ventral anterior, ventral lateral, ventral posterior, lateral dorsal, medial and lateral geniculate Association nuclei Reciprocally connected to association cortex Lateral posterior, pulvinar, medial dorsal nuclei Non-specific nuclei Not the same point-to-point connections like relay nuclei Intralaminar and thalamic reticular nuclei 5
Association nuclei Nolte J. The Human Brain, 6 th edition, 2009; Mosby Elsevier Association nuclei Lateral Posterior Dorsomedial Functional thalamic groups Three groupings Specific or relay nuclei Well defined inputs and projections Anterior, ventral anterior, ventral lateral, ventral posterior, lateral dorsal, medial and lateral geniculate Association nuclei Reciprocally connected to association cortex Lateral posterior, pulvinar, medial dorsal nuclei Non-specific nuclei Not the same point-to-point connections like relay nuclei Intralaminar and thalamic reticular nuclei 6
Non-specific nuclei Nolte J. The Human Brain: An introduction to its functional anatomy. 6 th edition, 2009; Mosby Elsevier Non-specific nuclei Nolte J. The Human Brain: An introduction to its functional anatomy. 6 th edition, 2009; Mosby Elsevier Fitzgerald MJT, Gruener G, Mtui E. Clinical Neuroanatomy and related Neuroscience, 56 th Ed., W. B. Saunders 2012 Internal capsule This is it This is it Lateral Anterior Posterior 7
Internal capsule AL-Anterior limb, G-Genu, PL-Posterior limb, RL- Retrolentiform part Fitzgerald MJT, Gruener G, Mtui E. Clinical Neuroanatomy and related Neuroscience, 6 th Ed., W. B. Saunders 2007 Thalamic peduncles (anterior, posterior, superior, inferior) The thalamic nuclei to remember 8
Blood supply Vascular (stroke) anatomic lesions and syndromes Powell R, et al. Pract Neurol 2014;14:440 445 9