What Is the Function of the Thalamus?
Quick Answer
The function of the thalamus is to regulate the body's voluntary motor control, consciousness and its sleep/wake cycle. It also regulates the senses of sight, sound, taste, touch and the sense of where the person's body is in space. The thalamus decides which signals from the ears, eyes, mouth and skin to relay to its area in the cerebral cortex. The thalamus doesn't relay information about the sense of smell.
Continue Reading
Full Answer
The thalamus may also be involved in the regulation of some types of memory. The thalamus and the cerebral cortex operate in a feedback loop, especially when it comes to the sleep/wake cycle. The thalamus not only sends signals to the cortex, but the cortex in turn sends signals back to the thalamus. Damage to this system can put a person at risk for irreversible coma.
An inherited condition causes the thalamus to degrade over time, leading to insomnia that can prove fatal. A stroke that affects the thalamus can lead to a disorder where the patient feels pain or burning on one side of the body, accompanied by changes in mood.
The thalamus is divided into two walnut-sized parts. Both are found in deep in the center of the brain, between the midbrain and the cerebral cortex.
Learn more about NervesRelated Questions
-
Q:
What Is the Function of the Left Cerebral Hemisphere?
A: The function of the left cerebral hemisphere is controlling motor, visual and tactile movements of the right side of the body, according to the Merck Manua... Full Answer >Filed Under: -
Q:
What Is the Function of Dorsal Root Ganglia?
A: The function of dorsal root ganglia is to transmit sensory information from the body's periphery to the spinal cord, explains the Department of Cell Biolog... Full Answer >Filed Under: -
Q:
What Part of the Brain Registers Pain?
A: The brain stem, thalamus and cerebral cortex are the three structures of the brain that receive and process sensations of pain, according to BrainFacts.org... Full Answer >Filed Under: -
Q:
What Is the Inferior Alveolar Nerve?
A: The inferior alveolar nerve is a bundle of nerve fibers that provides sensation and motor control to the lower jaw. It also provides pain sensation to the ... Full Answer >Filed Under:
You May Also Like
-
Q:
What Is the Function of Television?
-
Q:
What Is the Function of a Computer's Graphics Card?
-
Q:
What Is the Function of the Coronary Circulation?
-
Q:
How Do You Find the Vertex of a Quadratic Function?
-
Q:
What Is the Function of the Companies House in the United Kingdom?
-
Q:
What Is the Function of the Trachea?
