Definition: The thalamus is the area of the brain which processes information from the senses, such as temperature or pain, and transmits this information to other parts of the brain. The thalamus is also crucial in functions such as arousal, sleep, memory, emotion, attention and consciousness.
A very major role of the thalamus, and that most often affected in multiple sclerosis, is that of motor control. When multiple sclerosis causes a lesion in the thalamus, conditions such as spasticity or tremor can occur.
Treatments for severe tremor include thalamotomy (cutting or freezing the part of the thalamus that produces tremor) and thalamic stimulation (a procedure which uses surgically-implanted electrodes to stimulate the thalamus).
