Skip to content
Epomedicine
Epomedicine

Mnemonics, Simplified Concepts & Thoughts

  • Medical Students
  • Bedside Clinics
  • Case Reports
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Blog
  • Surgical Skills
  • Medical Mnemonics
Epomedicine

Mnemonics, Simplified Concepts & Thoughts

thalamus structure

Thalamic Connections Mnemonic

Dr. Sulabh Kumar Shrestha, MS Orthopedics, Jul 16, 2016Aug 4, 2023

Last updated on August 4, 2023

Structure of Thalamus

A vertical “Y” shaped white mater – internal medullary lamina divides thalamus into:

  1. Anterior nuclear groups
  2. Medial nuclear groups
  3. Lateral nuclear groups
thalamus structure
“Thalamus-schematic-de” by see english version is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

In anatomical position:

  • Dorsal surface of brain: faces towards sky
  • Ventral surface of brain: faces towards floor

Pulvinar = Posterior end or posterior pole of thalamus

Thalamic Connections

Picture mnemonic

Remember the schematic diagram drawn below showing important parts of thalamus in an anticlockwise fashion:

  1. Anterior nucleus
  2. Ventral nuclear group:
    • Anterior
    • Lateral
    • Posterior
      • Medial
      • Lateral
  3. Lateral and Medial geniculate body
  4. Medial-Dorsal nucleus
Thalamic connections

Now, we assign alphabets “A, B, C, D, E, F” sequentially to these important structures in anticlockwise fashion starting from anterior nucleus.

“A” for Anterior nucleus

A for:

  • Alertness
  • Attention
  • Affect
  • Acute memory

These are the functions of limbic system – Papez circuit:

  • Afferent: Mamillary body
  • Efferent: Cingulate gyrus

“B” for Ventral-anterior nucleus

B for: Basal ganglia

  • Afferent: Globus pallidus and Substantia nigra
  • Efferent: Brodmann Area 6 (Prefrontal and premotor cortex)

“C” for Ventral-lateral nucleus

C for: Co-ordination and Cerebellum

  • Afferent: Cerebellum (Dentate nucleus) and Basal ganglia
  • Efferent: Brodmann Area 4 (Primary motor cortex)

“D” for Ventral-Posterior nucleus

D for: Dermatome (Sensory)

  • Afferent:
    • Ventro-postero-medial (VPM) nucleus: Trigemino-thalamic tract, Solitario-thalamic tract
      • Medial = Mask (face)
      • Taste (Nucleus tractus solitarius)
    • Ventro-postero-lateral (VPL) nucleus:
      • Lateral = Limbs
      • Spinothalamic tract
      • Medial lemniscus
  • Efferent:
    • Brodmann Area 3, 1, 2 (Sensory cortex)

Thalamic pain syndrome: Involvement of primary somatosensory thalamic nucleus (ventral posterior lateral [VPL]/ventral posterior medial thalamus [VPM]) and the anterior pulvinar, a major spinothalamic target gives rise to thalamic pain syndrome. Approximately 25% of patients with a sensory stroke due to a thalamic lesion will develop central post-stroke pain. Thalamic pain is a severe, treatment-resistant pain syndrome. The pain is often described as burning or constrictive and is frequently accompanied by evoked pain (allodynia/hyperalgesia), paresthesias, or summation hyperpathia. 1http://www.ahcmedia.com/articles/137528-thalamic-pain-who-is-likely-to-develop-this-disorder

“E” for Geniculate Bodies

E for: Eyes and Ears

  • Lateral geniculate body = Light (Eyes)
    • Afferent: Optic tract
    • Efferent: Primary visual cortex (Area 17)
  • Medial geniculate body = Music (Ears)
    • Afferent: Inferior colliculus
    • Efferent: Primary auditory cortex (Area 41, 42)

“F” for Medial-Dorsal Nucleus

F for: Feelings (Limbic system)

  • Afferent:
    • Amygdala
    • Olfactory cortex
  • Efferent:
    • Prefrontal cortex
    • Limbic system

Thiamine deficiency in alcoholics (Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome) results in degeneration of the medial-dorsal nucleus of thalamus, mamillary bodies, hippocampus and vermis of cerebellum.

Other mnemonics:

  1. Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) = Light (Visual pathway)
  2. Medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) = Music (Auditory pathway)
  3. Ventral postero-lateral nucleus (VPL) = Very Painful Limbs (Spinothalamic tract and Dorsal column)
  4. Ventral postero-medial nucleus (VPM) = Very Painful Mouth (Trigeminal and Gustatory pathway)
  5. Ventrolateral nucleus (VL) = Victory Lap (Motor)
  6. Dorsomedial nucleus (DMN) = Dog’s Memory and Nose (Memory, smell and emotions)
dr. sulabh kumar shrestha
Dr. Sulabh Kumar Shrestha, MS Orthopedics

He is the section editor of Orthopedics in Epomedicine. He searches for and share simpler ways to make complicated medical topics simple. He also loves writing poetry, listening and playing music.

89 shares
  • Facebook31
  • Twitter
PGMEE, MRCS, USMLE, MBBS, MD/MS AnatomyNervous system

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Comments (22)

  1. Renjini says:
    Nov 10, 2016 at 11:33 am

    Sir, Isn’t solitariothalamic tract reaching the VPL nucleus?

    Reply
    1. Dr. Sulabh Kumar Shrestha says:
      Nov 10, 2016 at 5:12 pm

      Hello Renjini,
      Solitario-thalamic tract reaches VPM nucleus where the trigemino-thalamic tract reaches. Remember the tongue lies inside head and all the sensation from head are carried into VPM nucleus.
      There had been a mistake initially, it has been corrected. Thank you.

      Reply
    2. Abhishek Ghosh Rana says:
      Aug 23, 2020 at 8:45 am

      Sir I appreciate and respect your beautiful efforts !!
      This topic is so tough to understand and memorize but you reduced it to “a piece of cake”.
      I am indebted to you Sir…
      God Bless You!

      Reply
  2. Renjini says:
    Nov 10, 2016 at 11:36 am

    Found this very helpful,thank you.

    Reply
  3. Renjini says:
    Nov 11, 2016 at 1:54 am

    Hello sir,
    Sorry,i framed my question in a wrong way! Saw the correction ,got it now,

    Thank you.

    Reply
  4. ummulkulsum says:
    Apr 1, 2017 at 8:07 pm

    tnx much. it help me

    Reply
  5. Vrghs says:
    Apr 5, 2017 at 5:31 am

    So much helpful

    Reply
  6. bunni says:
    Apr 8, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    made it really simple, thank you

    Reply
  7. Swanky says:
    Jun 16, 2017 at 5:31 pm

    Good one sir

    Reply
  8. Rohit Nataraj says:
    Jul 3, 2017 at 7:33 am

    Thank you sir a beautiful representation and a beautiful way to remember thanks a lot

    Reply
  9. Anonymous says:
    Jul 4, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    This is very helpful to all medcal students! Thankyou very much for the contribution in making studying easier for us 🙂

    Reply
  10. Adi says:
    Aug 21, 2017 at 8:26 am

    This was a great topic. Keep up the good work!

    Reply
  11. rohini avadhani says:
    Dec 9, 2017 at 2:02 am

    I have used your mneumonic for my students.. thank you so much

    Reply
  12. Chaitra says:
    Dec 23, 2017 at 9:29 am

    Found this really helpful prepping for Usmle….thank you!

    Reply
  13. Rithesh says:
    Feb 25, 2018 at 4:53 am

    Its really helpful thank you

    Reply
  14. Arjun C says:
    Feb 26, 2018 at 2:02 am

    Excellent stuff, was really struggling to memorise the thalamic nuclei before I saw this.

    Reply
  15. Sreeranjini says:
    Mar 4, 2018 at 10:21 am

    Sir.. It was very useful.. Hope u come up with these kind of usefull tips..

    Reply
  16. Debaroti Bhaumik says:
    Apr 26, 2018 at 9:28 am

    U r now the god of thalamus

    Reply
  17. hala says:
    May 22, 2018 at 3:58 am

    WHre are rhe connection of dorso lateral and postero lateral parts

    Reply
  18. Ogadi Robert says:
    Nov 30, 2018 at 12:28 am

    This is what I need most for these exams. Thanks

    Reply
  19. mons says:
    Apr 1, 2021 at 3:13 pm

    thank you sooooo much sir. you are a savior.

    Reply
  20. Jothi says:
    Aug 21, 2023 at 8:20 pm

    Hypothalamic Nuclear organisation in quadrepeds (Cows) may have a evolutionary base in bipeds (Humans)…

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Shrestha SK. Thalamic Connections Mnemonic [Internet]. Epomedicine; 2016 Jul 16 [cited 2025 May 9]. Available from: https://epomedicine.com/medical-students/thalamic-connections-mnemonic/.

Pre-clinical (Basic Sciences)

Anatomy

Biochemistry

Community medicine (PSM)

Embryology

Microbiology

Pathology

Pharmacology

Physiology

Clinical Sciences

Anesthesia

Dermatology

Emergency medicine

Forensic

Internal medicine

Gynecology & Obstetrics

Oncology

Ophthalmology

Orthopedics

Otorhinolaryngology (ENT)

Pediatrics

Psychiatry

Radiology

Surgery

RSS Ask Epomedicine

  • What to study for Clinical examination in Orthopedics?
  • What is the mechanism of AVNRT?

Epomedicine weekly

  • About Epomedicine
  • Contact Us
  • Author Guidelines
  • Submit Article
  • Editorial Board
  • USMLE
  • MRCS
  • Thesis
©2025 Epomedicine . All rights reserved.