thalamus

American  

[thal-uh-muhs] / ˈθæl ə məs /

noun

plural

thalami

1. Anatomy. the middle part of the diencephalon through which sensory impulses pass to reach the cerebral cortex.

2. Botany. a receptacle or torus.

3. Also called thalamium.  an apartment for women in an ancient Greek house.

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thalamus British  

/ ˈθæləməs, θəˈlæmɪk /

noun

1. either of the two contiguous egg-shaped masses of grey matter at the base of the brain

2. both of these masses considered as a functional unit

3. the receptacle or torus of a flower

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thalamus Scientific  

/ thăl′ə-məs /

plural

thalami

1. The part of the vertebrate brain that lies at the rear of the forebrain. It relays sensory information to the cerebral cortex and regulates the perception of touch, pain, and temperature.

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thalamus Cultural  

1. The part of the brain that coordinates nerve impulses relating to the senses of sight, hearing, touch, and taste.

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Other Word Forms

• postthalamic adjective
• subthalamic adjective
• thalamic adjective
• thalamically adverb
• transthalamic adjective

Etymology

Origin of thalamus

1695–1705; < New Latin; Latin: bedroom < Greek thálamos

Compare meaning

How does thalamus compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• hypothalamus vs. thalamus

Example Sentences

"We think the thalamus, and its parallel streams of communication with cortex, are central in this process."

From Science Daily

In the brains of participants with psychosis, researchers found that sensory regions in the cortex were more weakly connected to each other and more strongly connected to the thalamus, the brain's information relay station.

From Science Daily

The team focused on two main pathways, the M2-projecting, which is connected to the secondary motor cortex, and the AD-projecting, which is connected to the anterior thalamus.

From Science Daily

In a new study recently published in the journal PLoS Biology, researchers from LMU, the University of Freiburg, and the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience analyzed neural activity in the visual thalamus.

From Science Daily

This technical advance allowed them to identify previously unseen pathways connecting the brainstem, thalamus, hypothalamus, basal forebrain, and cerebral cortex.

From Science Daily