Diencephalon

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Brain: Diencephalon
Diagram depicting the main subdivisions of the embryonic vertebrate brain. These regions will later differentiate into forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain structures.
Reconstruction of periphera nerves of a human embryo of 10.2 mm. (Label for Diencephalon is at left.)
Latin	diencephalon
Gray's	subject #189 807
NeuroNames	hier-271
MeSH	Diencephalon

The diencephalon is the region of the brain that includes the thalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus, prethalamus or subthalamus and pretectum. The diencephalon is located at the midline of the brain, above the mesencephalon of the brain stem. The diencephalon contains the zona limitans intrathalamica as morphological boundary and signalling centre between the prethalamus and the thalamus.

Contents 1 Organization 2 Roles 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Organization

• diencephalon
  • mid-diencephalic territory
    • prethalamus
    • zona limitans intrathalamica
    • thalamus
  • hypothalamus
  • epithalamus
  • pretectum

[edit] Roles

The diencephalon is the part of the forebrain that contains such important structures as the thalamus, hypothalamus and the posterior portion of the pituitary gland. The hypothalamus performs numerous vital functions, most of which relate directly or indirectly to the regulation of visceral activities by way of other brain regions and the autonomic nervous system.

[edit] See also

• List of regions in the human brain

[edit] External links

• BrainMaps at UCDavis diencephalon

v • d • e Brain: diencephalon Epithalamus Pineal body • Habenula (Habenular nuclei) • Stria medullaris • Habenular trigone • Habenular commissure Thalamus/nuclei paired: AN • Ventral (VA/VL, VP/VPM/VPL) • Lateral (Pulvinar) • Metathalamus (MG, LG) midline: MD • Intralaminar (Centromedian) • Midline nuclear group • Interthalamic adhesion • Medullary laminae surface: reticular tracts to thalamus: Mammillothalamic tract • Thalamic fasciculus • Lenticular fasciculus • Ansa lenticularis • Medial lemniscus • Trigeminal lemniscus • Spinothalamic tract • Lateral lemniscus Hypothalamus autonomic zones: Anterior (parasympathetic/heat loss) • Posterior (sympathetic/heat conservation) endocrine - posterior pituitary: magnocellular/Paraventricular/Supraoptic (oxytocin/vasopressin) endocrine - other: parvocellular/Arcuate (dopamine/GHRH) • Preoptic (GnRH) • Suprachiasmatic (melatonin) emotion: Lateral (hunger) • Ventromedial (satiety) • Dorsomedial (rage) surface: Median eminence/Tuber cinereum • Mammillary body • Infundibulum tracts: Medial forebrain bundle Pituitary: (Posterior is diencephalon, but anterior is glandular) Subthalamus Subthalamic nucleus • Zona incerta