Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A large ovoid mass of gray matter situated in the posterior part of the forebrain that relays sensory impulses to the cerebral cortex.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Gr. archæol., an inner or private room; a chamber; especially, the women's apartment (Homeric); a sekos.
  • noun In anatomy: The apparent origin of a cranial nerve; the place where a nerve emerges from or leaves the brain.
  • noun Specifically, the optic thalamus; the thalamus of the optic nerve; the great posterior ganglion of the cerebrum, forming the lateral wall of the cerebral ventricle, and connected with its fellow by the middle commissure of the brain. See cut under cerebral.
  • noun In botany: The receptacle or torus.
  • noun Same as thallus.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Anat.) A mass of nervous matter on either side of the third ventricle of the brain; -- called also optic thalamus.
  • noun Same as Thallus.
  • noun The receptacle of a flower; a torus.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun anatomy Either of two large, ovoid structures of grey matter within the forebrain that relay sensory impulses to the cerebral cortex.
  • noun botany The receptacle of a flower; a torus.
  • noun A thallus.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun large egg-shaped structures of grey matter that form the dorsal subdivision of the diencephalon

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, inner chamber, from Greek thalamos.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From New Latin, from Latin thalamus, from Ancient Greek θάλαμος (thalamos, "an inner chamber, a bedroom, a bed").

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Examples

  • Doubtless the word thalamus is, or should be, significative of peaceful occupations; but it is not a Latin word at all, except by adoption.

    Myths and Myth-makers: Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology 1872

  • The visual stimulus of the lion travels to the “input center” in the core of your brain, the thalamus, which is shaped like a tiny football.

    THE PROGRAM KELLY TRAVER 2009

  • The visual stimulus of the lion travels to the “input center” in the core of your brain, the thalamus, which is shaped like a tiny football.

    THE PROGRAM KELLY TRAVER 2009

  • The thalamus is the receiving station for all information from your senses.

    THE PROGRAM KELLY TRAVER 2009

  • The thalamus is the receiving station for all information from your senses.

    THE PROGRAM KELLY TRAVER 2009

  • Almond-shaped, the amygdala takes all of the information from the part of your brain called the thalamus relay station and pushes it to the cortex—the part of the brain that helps you make decisions, such as running out of a burning home.

    You Being Beautiful Michael F. Roizen 2008

  • Almond-shaped, the amygdala takes all of the information from the part of your brain called the thalamus relay station and pushes it to the cortex—the part of the brain that helps you make decisions, such as running out of a burning home.

    You Being Beautiful Michael F. Roizen 2008

  • Since the thalamus is a key relay of neuronal information in the brain, I have hypothesized that the asymmetry might be associated with long-term meditation processes.

    Born to Believe Andrew Newberg 2006

  • The thalamus is a tiny structure, about 1 centimeter in length, that sits on top of the brain stem deep in the center of the brain.

    Born to Believe Andrew Newberg 2006

  • Since the thalamus is a key relay of neuronal information in the brain, I have hypothesized that the asymmetry might be associated with long-term meditation processes.

    Born to Believe Andrew Newberg 2006

Comments

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  • ...my increasing tolerance to large doses and my increasing need for the drug have led them to consider Pennybacker's idea ('Management of intractable pain', Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1963, 56, p. 191) of leucotomy, meddling with the thalamus or with the frontal lobe.

    - Peter Reading, C, 1984

    September 28, 2008