Description: Trans-thalamic Pathways: Strong Candidates for Supporting Communication between Functionally Distinct Cortical Areas

This title appears in the Scientific Report : 2019

Trans-thalamic Pathways: Strong Candidates for Supporting Communication between Functionally Distinct Cortical Areas

The thalamus was long considered a passive relay of sensory information with little or no active role in higher cognitive functions. However, mounting evidence suggests that thalamic nuclei form complex loops with the cortex and are involved in a myriad of cognitive processes, including attention an...

Personal Name(s):	Zajzon, Barna (Corresponding author)
	Morales-Gregorio, Aitor
Contributing Institute:	Computational and Systems Neuroscience; INM-6 Jara-Institut Brain structure-function relationships; INM-10 Computational and Systems Neuroscience; IAS-6
Published in:	The Journal of Neuroscience The journal of neuroscience, 39 39 (2019 2019) 36 36, S. 7034-7036 7034-7036
Imprint:	Washington, DC Soc.69657 2019 2019-09-04 2019-09-04 2019-09-04
PubMed ID:	31484708
DOI:	10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0656-19.2019
Document Type:	Journal Article
Research Program:	Heterogenität von Zytoarchitektur, Chemoarchitektur und Konnektivität in einem großskaligen Computermodell der menschlichen Großhirnrinde Human Brain Project Specific Grant Agreement 2 W2/W3 Professorinnen Programm der Helmholtzgemeinschaft Connectivity and Activity Theory, modelling and simulation
Link:	Published on 2019-09-04. Available in OpenAccess from 2020-03-04. Published on 2019-09-04. Available in OpenAccess from 2020-03-04.
	Publikationsportal JuSER

Please use the identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/23030 in citations.
Please use the identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0656-19.2019 in citations.

The thalamus was long considered a passive relay of sensory information with little or no active role in higher cognitive functions. However, mounting evidence suggests that thalamic nuclei form complex loops with the cortex and are involved in a myriad of cognitive processes, including attention and working memory (Ward, 2013). Although first-order thalamic nuclei (e.g., lateral geniculate nucleus) play a key role in the transmission of ascending sensory input to the cortex, higher-order nuclei (e.g., pulvinar or mediodorsal nucleus) are believed to be involved in sustaining and modulating communication within and between cortical regions (Guillery, 1995). Understanding the functional role of such nuclei in a mechanistic manner requires, in addition to behavioral experiments, a detailed anatomical and physiological mapping of the thalamocortical circuitry.