List of thalamic nuclei
List of thalamic nuclei | |
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![]() Thalamic nuclei: (left thalamus, left view) MNG = Midline nuclear group AN = Anterior nuclear group MD = Medial dorsal nucleus VNG = Ventral nuclear group VA = Ventral anterior nucleus VL = Ventral lateral nucleus VPL = Ventral posterolateral nucleus VPM = Ventral posteromedial nucleus LNG = Lateral nuclear group PUL = Pulvinar MTh = Metathalamus LG = Lateral geniculate nucleus MG = Medial geniculate nucleus | |
![]() Thalamic nuclei (right thalamus viewed from above right) | |
Identifiers | |
MeSH | D013787 |
TA98 | A14.1.08.602 |
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy |
This traditional list does not accord strictly with human thalamic anatomy.
Nuclear groups of the thalamus include:
- anterior nuclear group[1]
- medial nuclear group (medial dorsal nucleus,[6] a.k.a. dorsomedial)
- parvocellular part[7] (a.k.a. parvicellular part)
- magnocellular part[8]
- midline nuclear group[9] or paramedian
- paratenial nucleus[10]
- paraventricular thalamus[11]
- reuniens nucleus[12] (a.k.a. medioventral nucleus)
- rhomboid nucleus[13]
- interanteromedial[14][15]
- intermediodorsal[14][16]
- intralaminar nuclear group[17]
- anterior (rostral) group[18]
- posterior (caudal) intralaminar group
- lateral nuclear group[24] in fact a false entity replaced by
- posterior region[25]
- pulvinar[26]
- lateral posterior nucleus[31] belongs to pulvinar
- (lateral dorsal nucleus[5] belongs to anterior group)
- ventral nuclear group[32]
- ventral anterior nucleus[33]
- ventral lateral nucleus[34]
- ventral medial[35] (a.k.a. medial part of ventral lateral nucleus)
- anterior ventral lateral[36]
- posterior ventral lateral[37]
- ventral posterior nucleus[38] or ventrobasal complex
- posterior region[25]
- metathalamus[44] no longer used for the geniculate group
- thalamic reticular nucleus[47] part of the ventral thalamus
Principles of subdivision
The principal subdivision principle for the thalamus is the trisection of each thalamus (left and right) by a Y-shaped internal medullary lamina. This trisection divides each thalamus into anterior, medial and lateral groups of nuclei.[14] The medial group is subdivided into midline and medial dorsal. The lateral group is subdivided into lateral dorsal, lateral posterior and pulvinar. The lateral and medial geniculate nuclei (sometimes grouped as the metathalamus[44]) are also anatomically within this lateral group.
The interior medullary lamina is subdivided into intralaminar nuclei. Additional structures are the reticular nucleus, which envelops the lateral thalamus, the stratum zonale,[48] and the interthalamic adhesion.[49]
A full hierarchical subdivision of the thalamus gives varying numbers of nuclei according to source. Some say 30 nuclei.[50]: 1612 Others say 60 nuclei.[14] (See BrainInfo for a complete thalamus hierarchy.)
Multi-perspective diagrams of thalamic nuclei
The following diagrams show thalamic nuclei in six standard perspectives to help 3-dimensional visualization.
Medial group of left thalamus

- CeM Central Medial[21]
- CL Central Lateral[20]
- CM CentroMedian[22]
- MD Medial Dorsal[6]
- MV MedioVentral = Reuniens.[12]
- Pf Parafascicular[23]
- Lateral view shows sagittal section through left thalamus.
Notes:
- CeM Central Medial is in the intralaminar anterior. (See Intralaminar thalamic nuclei#Structure.)
- CM CentroMedian is in the intralaminar posterior. (See Intralaminar thalamic nuclei#Structure.)
Lateral group of left thalamus

- VA Ventral Anterior[33]
- VL Ventral Lateral[34]
- VM Ventral Medial[35]
- VPI Ventral PosteroInferior[43]
- VPL Ventral PosteroLateral[39]
- VPM Ventral PosteroMedial[42]
- Medial view shows sagittal section through left thalamus.
Notes:
- VM Ventral Medial means the "medial part of the ventral lateral nucleus".[35].
- This is distinct from VentroMedial, which is "a substructure of the ventral group of the dorsal thalamus defined on the basis of connectivity and function in the rat and in the mouse". "It is equivalent to part of the ventral nuclear group lateral to the submedial nucleus in the classical segmentation of the thalamus."[51]
- VPI Ventral PosteroInferior is also known as Ventral Posterior Inferior nucleus.[43]
- It is a subdivision of the ventral posterior nucleus.
Related topics
References
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 302
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 305
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 303
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 304
- ^ a b BrainInfo NeuroName 326
- ^ a b BrainInfo NeuroName 312
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 315
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 314
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 306
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 307
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 308
- ^ a b BrainInfo NeuroName 309
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 310
- ^ a b c d Sheridan, Nicholas; Tadi, Prasanna (2023), "Neuroanatomy, Thalamic Nuclei", StatPearls, Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID 31751098, retrieved 2023-09-17
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 1830
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 1868
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 317
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 318
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 322
- ^ a b BrainInfo NeuroName 320
- ^ a b BrainInfo NeuroName 321
- ^ a b BrainInfo NeuroName 323
- ^ a b BrainInfo NeuroName 324
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 325
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 362
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 328
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 329
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 330
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 331
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 332
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 327
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 333
- ^ a b BrainInfo NeuroName 334
- ^ a b BrainInfo NeuroName 337
- ^ a b c BrainInfo NeuroName 340
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 338
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 339
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 343
- ^ a b BrainInfo NeuroName 344
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 345
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 346
- ^ a b BrainInfo NeuroName 347
- ^ a b c BrainInfo NeuroName 350
- ^ a b BrainInfo NeuroName 351
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 355
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 353
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 365
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 374
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 301
- ^ Whyte, Christopher J.; Redinbaugh, Michelle J.; Shine, James M.; Saalmann, Yuri B. (2024). "Thalamic contributions to the state and contents of consciousness". Neuron. 112 (10): 1611–1625. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2024.04.019. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
- ^ BrainInfo NeuroName 1759