Zona incerta
| Zona incerta | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | Zona incerta |
| NeuroNames | hier-421 |
| NeuroLex ID | Zona incerta |
| Dorlands /Elsevier |
z_01/12869746 |
| TA | A14.1.08.707 |
| FMA | 62038 |
|
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy
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The zona incerta is a horizontally elongated region of gray matter in the subthalamus below the thalamus. Its connections project extensively over the brain from the cerebral cortex down into the spinal cord.
Its function is unknown, though several potential functions related to "limbic–motor integration" have been proposed, such as controlling visceral activity and pain; gating sensory input and synchronizing cortical and subcortical brain rhythms. Its dysfunction may play a role in central pain syndrome. It has also been identified as a promising deep brain stimulation therapy target for treating Parkinson's disease.
Its existence was first described by Auguste Forel in 1877 as a "region of which nothing certain can be said". A hundred and thirty years later in 2007, Nadia Urbain and Martin Deschênes of Université Laval noted that the "zona incerta is among the least studied regions of the brain; its name does not even appear in the index of many textbooks."
This nucleus is located medially to the internal capsule, ventral to the thalamus, and is contiguous with the thalamic reticular nucleus. The nucleus separates the lenticular fasciculus from the thalamic fasciculus (also known as the "field H1 of Forel") . Its cells are very heterogeneous differing widely in their shape and size. Its chemoarchitecture is also diverse containing up to 20 different types of neurochemically defined cells. It has been noted that "There are few diencephalic regions that have as much cellular and neurochemical diversity".
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