The anterior nucleus of the thalamus is at the front (rostral) end of the thalamus, one on each side. It takes signals from the hippocampus, straight through the fornix and by way of the mammillary bodies, and sends them on to the cingulate gyrus: a step of the Papez circuit. [1][2]
The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The text below still says where the anterior nucleus of the thalamus is and what it does.
Opens cut by a side (sagittal) slice through the thalamus, which holds the anterior nucleus of the thalamus. Drag to turn, pinch or scroll to zoom, tap any part to name it; .
Not a separate shape in this atlas; lit: the part that holds it. Lit: the whole thalamus, on both sides. The anterior nuclei are the front part of the thalamus; BodyParts3D has no shape for them (its only thalamic nuclei are the two geniculate bodies), so the whole thalamus is lit and nothing is drawn at a guessed point. Look at the front end of the lit thalamus. [1][2]
Lit here: the thalamus, the part that holds the anterior nucleus of the thalamus — see it on its own page.
Where it is
The nuclei lie at the rostral (front) end of the dorsal thalamus. [1]
They are the anterior group, one of the three groups (anterior, medial, lateral) that the Y-shaped internal medullary lamina divides each thalamus into. [2]
Three nuclei make it up: the anteromedial, anterodorsal and anteroventral nuclei. [1][3]
That route makes it a step of the Papez circuit, from the mammillary bodies on to the cingulate gyrus. [1]
It is a vital node in the hippocampus–diencephalon–cingulate circuits that support spatial learning and memory, and is tied to episodic memory, the memory of events. [3][1]
Its anterodorsal nucleus holds head direction cells, which fire when the head points one way; it is a key node of the head direction system. [3][1]
Connections
The anteroventral nucleus is connected both ways with the anterior cingulate cortex, the anterodorsal nucleus with the retrosplenial cortex; the main ascending input to the anterodorsal nucleus comes from the lateral mammillary bodies. [3]
Other names
Also called the anterior thalamic nuclei (ATN): the anteromedial, anterodorsal and anteroventral nuclei together, often spoken of as one anterior nucleus. [1][3]
Size
The model has no shape for the anterior nucleus of the thalamus itself, so it is not measured here. The left thalamus that holds it measures about 37 mm front to back, 24 mm top to bottom and 24 mm side to side on this model (the box it fits in, not its volume). [4]
Facts describe anatomy and normal function only. The 3D model is the adult male BodyParts3D brain (credits and licence); real brains vary in size and shape, so its measurements describe one model, not anyone’s brain.