IUBio

role of thalamus in intellectual development

Bill Skaggs skaggs at bns.pitt.edu
Thu May 27 09:52:32 EST 1999


dave at lud-low.freeserve.co.uk (Dave L) writes:

> 1) does the thalamus have an important role in intellectual
> development/learning ability and if so, what role?
> 

The thalamus would be involved to some degree in virtually every
cognitive activity.  If nothing else, the mechanisms that control
arousal and alertness run through the thalamus, and damage to certain
parts of the thalamus can lead to coma or a quasi-somnolent state.
But I expect if her problem were of this sort, you would have noticed
signs of it.  

In a different direction, the microcephaly you describe suggests
damage extending beyond the thalamus.  The thalamus is a relatively
small structure, and damage to it alone ought not to noticeably
decrease the size of the brain.  It may be, though, that damage to the
thalamus has induced changes in the neocortex.  We know that the sort
of experiences an animal (or presumably human) has, determines the
thickness of the neocortex.  We don't understand very well the
mechanism behind this, but it could very well turn out that the
thalamus plays a crucial role, because it's the main pathway by which
information is sent to the neocortex.

I'm afraid this isn't very helpful, but it's the best I can do.  

Does your daughter have noticeable memory deficits, along with her
other problems?

	-- Bill



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