Imagine a seminar in which four smart people address the significance of a deep and central brain structure, the thalamus, in its relationship to the overlying cerebral cortex. Among the four, we hear from an economist, a mathematician, and two scientists. For medical or neuroscience students, or for trainees in neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry, Edison K. Miyawaki describes relevant thalamocortical anatomy in humans and other vertebrates. He summarizes known thalamocortical connections in their rich complexity. Thalamus and its Cortex is an experiment in teaching replete with old (but still good) and contemporary insights about the relationship between cortex and subcortex.