Forebrain


Forebrain is divided into the diencephelon and thelencephelon. the dorsal portion of the diencephelon is the epithalamus, the lateral portion the thalamus and the ventral portion is the hypothalans.

The epithalamus contains a small nucleus that transmits olfactory information to the brain stem, the pineal and parapineal bodies, and the anterior choroid plexus.

In lower vertebrates epithalamus is well developed and importantt for the transmission of impulses from periphery to cerebral cortex, but in mammales most of sensory information is transferred to the cerebral cortex via thalamus.