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Thyroid hormones are essential for brain maturation and functioning throughout life. In adults, functional disorders of the thyroid gland can lead to various clinical manifestations, and most of these disorders are usually reversible with appropriate treatment. Neurological manifestations are nonspecific, which often leads to a delay in diagnosis. Conversely, in the fetal period and early childhood, thyroid hormone deficiency, even of short duration, can lead to irreversible brain damage, the consequences of which depend not only on the severity, but also on the specific moment of its appearance. The importance of thyroid hormones to the brain requires tightly controlled mechanisms of hormone delivery and specific cellular interactions in their metabolism. Disruption of these mechanisms leads to various syndromes of neurological damage. A challenge in the near future will be a deeper understanding of the pathophysiology of thyroid hormone action in the brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]