Epithalamus

Brain: Epithalamus

Mesal aspect of a brain sectioned in the median sagittal plane. Epithalamus labeled in red, by 'habenular commissure', 'pineal body', and 'posterior commissure', with its projection anteriorly consisting stria medullaris
Latin	epithalamus
Gray's	subject #189 812
NeuroNames	hier-275
MeSH	Epithalamus

The epithalamus is a dorsal posterior segment of the diencephalon (a segment in the middle of the brain also containing the hypothalamus and the thalamus) which includes the habenula, the stria medullaris and the pineal body. Its function is the connection between the limbic system to other parts of the brain.

Functions

Some functions of its components include the secretion of melatonin by the pineal gland.

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

The content of this section is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (local copy). It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Epithalamus" modified June 23, 2008 with previous authors listed in its history.