Fig. 2

Anatomical Location and Connections of Hypothalamus. (A) Location of Hypothalamus (blue area) in the human brain and its subdivisions. (B) Hypothalamic connections with brain regions involved in CNS pain processing pathway and associated neurotransmitters. DH = dorsal hypothalamic area, LH = lateral hypothalamic area, PVN = periventricular nucleus, PH = posterior hypothalamic area, DMN = dorsomedial nucleus, VMN = ventromedial nucleus, AH = anterior hypothalamic area, PN = preoptic nucleus, AN = arcuate nucleus, SN = supraoptic nucleus, SCN = suprachiasmatic nucleus, HPTM = hypothalamus, IC = insular cortex, PFC = prefrontal cortex, MC = motor cortex, SSC = somatosensory cortex, NAc = nucleus accumbens core, TH = thalamus, AMD = amygdala, PAG = periaqueductal gray, PPC = posterior parietal cortex, TNC = trigeminal nucleus caudalis, CBM = cerebellum, ACC = anterior cingulate cortex