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Affixes

thalam(o)-

The thalamus.

Greek thalamos, an inner room.

The thalamus is one of two masses of grey matter that lie deep in the forebrain and which are the junction points for all sensory messages entering the brain. Two examples of the form are thalamocortical, designating sensory nerve fibres running from the thalamus to the cerebral cortex, and thalamotomy (Greek ‑tomia, cutting), an operation in the brain involving a cut in part of the thalamus.