What’s up.
Meditay here.
Let’s continue the anatomy of the Central Nervous System.
In this segment, we’ll cover the complete anatomy of the different parts of the
Diencephalon.
So the central nervous system consists of two parts: the encephalon and the spinal
cord. The encephalon is then further divided into specific parts.
We have the brainstem, which consists of the medulla, pons, and the midbrain or the
mesencephalon. We have the cerebellum back here, then the diencephalon and the
telencephalon.
Our focus in this video is going to be the diencephalon, which is here.
So in this video, we’re first going to look at the topography of the diencephalon—
basically, understand where it is, what parts are considered the diencephalon, and
what’s the orientation between these parts.
After that, we will cover the actual anatomy of all the structures that make up the
diencephalon. But let’s orientate and understand their relationship first before
doing so.
Alright. Here you see the pons, medulla, cerebellum, and the spinal cord. And if we
remove one side of the hemisphere, we’ll be able to see the midbrain. And right
above the midbrain, we have our diencephalon.
So the diencephalon is a group of nerve nuclei that surrounds the third ventricle.
So let’s repeat the ventricular system a little bit. I’m sure you remember the
fourth ventricle, which continues down as the central canal and continues upwards
as the aqueduct of the midbrain, which leads into the third ventricle.
So again, the diencephalon surrounds the third ventricle. And above the third
ventricle, on either side, we have the lateral ventricles.
Alright. So the diencephalon surrounds the third ventricle, and its job is to
connect different parts of the telencephalon with the brainstem. It’s like the post
office of our brain, directing the signals to the right place.
So let’s now remove the surrounding structures that are not significant to us yet
and orientate around the different parts of the diencephalon.
The diencephalon consists of five parts: the thalamus, epithalamus, subthalamus,
metathalamus, and hypothalamus.
Now, I’ve made an orientation scheme that really helped me understand the
diencephalon when I started studying it.
So we can start off here, looking at the medulla, pons, midbrain, and cerebellum.
Now, let’s say this is you, right? A cute little figure swimming around the
cerebrospinal fluid within the fourth ventricle.
Now we’re going to send you off for some adventure.
So you swim upwards, up through the aqueduct of the midbrain, until you get to the
third ventricle.
From your standpoint right now, when you look to your right and to your left,
you’ll see the thalamus on either side of the third ventricle.
So if we go back to our list, the thalamus is our first stop, so let’s go ahead and
put a checkmark there.
Now, you decide to turn around and swim to the very back of the third ventricle,
where you’ll notice a small pouch hanging on the back like a tail, called the
pineal gland.
And the pineal gland is attached on the backside here through the habenula.
All of these together form the epithalamus. So let’s go ahead and put a checkmark
here as well.
Next, if you duck and look inferiorly to the thalamus, you’ll find the subthalamus.
This is another important component of the diencephalon.
Then, on the lateral sides of each thalamus, you’ll find two nuclei called the
medial geniculate body and the lateral geniculate body. These two nuclei are termed
the metathalamus, another significant part of the diencephalon.
Now, you decide to turn around and swim forward to explore what’s on the anterior
side. And what you see is surprising.
You’ll see gray matter surrounding the anterior portion of the third ventricle,
which is termed the hypothalamus.
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