Mapping the human thalamus: a historical review of thalamic atlases from histology to modern neuroanatomy.

This review outlines the development of thalamic atlases from early post-mortem 2D histological maps to modern 3D multimodal atlases used in neuroscience and clinical practice. Given the central role of the thalamus in sensory processing, movement, and cognition, accurate anatomical mapping has been essential for both research and neurosurgical targeting. By synthesizing historical and modern approaches, we highlight the methodological advances, such as the development of thalamus-specific MRI sequences, that have improved the precision of thalamic nuclei delineation. We focus on open-source atlases that support reproducible research and clinical applications. Future developments will likely focus on integrating multi-scale data; combining cytoarchitectonic, with quantitative MRI and computational models to improve thalamic parcellation and accurate localization in vivo.