Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “THALAMUS”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 505 records · Page 28Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Afferents from the auditory thalamus synapse on inhibitory interneurons in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala.

Physiological studies suggest that afferents to the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA) from the auditory thalamus initiate feedforward inhibition [Li et al. (1996b)]. This model of neural processing requires that thalamic afferents synapse directly onto inhibitory interneurons. To determine whether such synaptic contacts occur, we combined anterograde tract tracing with interneuron immunocytochemistry. The anterograde tracer biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) was injected into the auditory thalamus. Inhibitory interneurons in the LA were identified using antibodies directed against gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) or one of the calcium binding proteins (CBPs), parvalbumin (PARV), calbindin (CALB), or calretinin (CALR), since CBPs identify distinct populations of GABAergic cells within the amygdala. The distribution of GABAergic and CBP interneurons in each subregion of the LA was examined by light microscopy and the relationships between thalamo-amygdala terminals and interneurons were examined by confocal and electron microscopy. Immunoreactive cells were distributed in all three subdivisions of LA, except for CALR-ir neurons, which were sparse in the dorsal subregion and were found mainly in the ventromedial and ventrolateral subregions. Confocal microscopy revealed some thalamo-amygdala terminals in close proximity to LA interneurons, while electron microscopy showed that thalamo-amygdala terminals made direct synaptic contacts onto distal dendritic processes of inhibitory neurons. These data provide morphological evidence that thalamic afferents synapse directly onto inhibitory interneurons in LA, and are consistent with the possibility that inputs from the auditory thalamus initiate feedforward inhibition in LA. This architecture could play an important role in the suppression of background neural noise, thereby enhancing the response of LA cells to incoming auditory stimuli.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMed2006

Innervation of the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus from cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) containing neurons of the hypothalamus.

The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) is a midline thalamic nucleus with heavy projections to the nucleus accumbens and other limbic regions. Previous studies have shown that the PVT contains fibers immunoreactive for cocaine- and amphetamine-related transcript (CART). The purpose of the present study was to determine the location of CART neurons innervating the PVT of the rat by using retrograde tracing with cholera toxin B (CTb) combined with immunofluorescence for CTb and CART (amino acid sequence 55-102). Immunohistochemical analysis of CART in the dorsal thalamus showed that the PVT is densely innervated by CART fibers whereas adjacent midline and intralaminar thalamic nuclei are unlabeled. Injections of CTb in the dorsal midline thalamus retrogradely labeled neurons in several areas of the hypothalamus and brainstem which also contained CART neurons. The largest number of double-labeled neurons (CTb/CART) was found in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. CTb/CART neurons were also found in the lateral hypothalamus, zona incerta, and periventricular hypothalamus. These results indicate that the arcuate nucleus is a major source of CART fibers in the PVT. CART neurons in the arcuate nucleus monitor circulating hormonal signals and may regulate food intake and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity. Consequently, CART neurons in the arcuate nucleus may transmit signals to the PVT which in turn may influence limbic regions involved in regulating food intake and the HPA.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Efferent projections of reuniens and rhomboid nuclei of the thalamus in the rat.

The nucleus reuniens (RE) is the largest of the midline nuclei of the thalamus and exerts strong excitatory actions on the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex. Although RE projections to the hippocampus have been well documented, no study using modern tracers has examined the totality of RE projections. With the anterograde anatomical tracer Phaseolus vulgaris leuccoagglutinin, we examined the efferent projections of RE as well as those of the rhomboid nucleus (RH) located dorsal to RE. Control injections were made in the central medial nucleus (CEM) of the thalamus. We showed that the output of RE is almost entirely directed to the hippocampus and "limbic" cortical structures. Specifically, RE projects strongly to the medial frontal polar, anterior piriform, medial and ventral orbital, anterior cingulate, prelimbic, infralimbic, insular, perirhinal, and entorhinal cortices as well as to CA1, dorsal and ventral subiculum, and parasubiculum of the hippocampus. RH distributes more widely than RE, that is, to several RE targets but also significantly to regions of motor, somatosensory, posterior parietal, retrosplenial, temporal, and occipital cortices; to nucleus accumbens; and to the basolateral nucleus of amygdala. The ventral midline thalamus is positioned to exert significant control over fairly widespread regions of the cortex (limbic, sensory, motor), hippocampus, dorsal and ventral striatum, and basal nuclei of the amygdala, possibly to coordinate limbic and sensorimotor functions. We suggest that RE/RH may represent an important conduit in the exchange of information between subcortical-cortical and cortical-cortical limbic structures potentially involved in the selection of appropriate responses to specific and changing sets of environmental conditions.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Development of the diencephalon in the rat. IV. Quantitative study of the time of origin of neurons and the internuclear chronological gradients in the thalamus.

Groups of pregnant rats were injected with two successive daily doses of 3H-thymidine from gestational days 13 and 14 (E13 + 14) until the day before birth (E21 + 22). With this progressively delayed comprehensive labelling procedure we determined the time of origin of neurons in the nuclei of the epithalamus, thalamus, and ventral thalamus. The zona incerta, subthalamic nucleus, reticular nucleus, posterior nucleus, and ventral lateral geniculate nucleus are composed of the earliest arising neurons (E13, or before, to E15). The neurons of the lateral habenular nucleus are produced between days E13--16. The neurons of the medial geniculate and lateral geniculate nuclei, the ventrobasal and ventrolateral complexes, and the nucleus lateralis, pars posterior, arise rapidly on days E14--15; the medial geniculate nucleus with a peak on day E14, the others with a peak on day E15. Neurons of a group of nuclei, with ill-defined boundaries medial to the sensory relax nuclei, arise apparently on days E15--16, with a peak on day E15; these may represent the intralaminar nuclei. The next group is generated on days E15--16 but with peak formation time on day E16; this includes the anteroventral, anterodorsal, anteromedial and mediodorsal nuclei. The rhomboid, reuniens and paratenial nuclei, and the paraventricular nucleus, pars anterior, arise next (E16--17). The medial habenular nucleus forms last and over a protracted period (E15--19). With their lengthy generation time the lateral and medial habenular nuclei resemble more the nuclei of the hypothalamus than the nuclei of the dorsal thalamus.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Distribution of cerebellothalamic neurons projecting to the ventral nuclei of the thalamus: an HRP study in the cat.

Distribution of cerebellothalamic neurons projecting to the ventral nuclei of the thalamus was examined in the cat, using the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) method. After injections of HRP within the lateral or ventrolateral portions of the ventro-anterior and ventrolateral nuclear complex of the thalamus (VA-VL), neurons labeled retrogradely with HRP were seen contralaterally in the cerebellar nuclei; many of them were situated in the nucleus interpositus anterior and nucleus interpositus posterior, and a moderate number of them were located in the nucleus lateralis. Labeled neurons in the nucleus interpositus posterior were observed mainly in the medial and ventral portions of the nucleus. On the side ipsilateral to the injections, a few labeled neurons were seen in the nucleus interpositus anterior, nucleus interpositus posterior, and nucleus lateralis. Virtually no labeled neurons were found in the nucleus medialis of the cerebellum. After HRP injections into the medial or dorsomedial portions of the VA-VL, many labeled neurons were found contralaterally in the ventral and ventrolateral portions of the nucleus interpositus posterior, as well as in the nucleus lateralis, especially in its ventral and lateral portions. On the side ipsilateral to the injections, labeled neurons in the nucleus lateralis and nucleus interpositus posterior were small in number. In the nucleus medialis only a few labeled neurons were found bilaterally in the caudal levels of the nucleus. After HRP injections centered on the ventromedial nucleus of the thalamus, many labeled neurons occurred bilaterally in the caudal portions of the nucleus madialis, with a slight contralateral preponderance, and contralaterally in the lateral and ventral portions of the nucleus lateralis. A few labeled neurons were also seen contralaterally in the ventrolateral and lateral portions of the nucleus interpositus posterior, and ipsilaterally in the nucleus lateralis.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Somatosensory nuclei in the brainstem of the rat: independent projections to the thalamus and cerebellum.

The dorsal column nuclei and the sensory trigeminal nuclei project not only to the ventrobasal thalamus but also to the cerebellum. In this study the numbers and distribution of neurones projecting to these two regions were examined for the following nuclei: the rostral part of the main cuneate nucleus, the external cuneate nucleus, nucleus x, the principal sensory nucleus of the trigeminal nerve, and the oral, interpolar, and caudal subnuclei of the spinal nucleus of the trigeminal nerve. A thalamic projection from nucleus x and from the external cuneate nucleus was confirmed, and a distinct group of neurones projecting to the ventroposteromedial thalamus was distinguished near the ventromedial aspect of the principal sensory nucleus. Of the 165,000 neurones examined, only one was found to be double labelled. It was concluded that the populations of neurones that project to the ventrobasal thalamus and to the cerebellum are separate, and that somatosensory neurones in the brainstem do not send axon collaterals to both regions.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMed1990

Postnatal changes in the density and distribution of neurotensin-like immunoreactive fibers in the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus in the rat.

A previous report (Inagaki et al., Brain Res. 260:143-146, '83) suggested that the peptide neurotensin is contained in neurons of the piriform cortex that project to the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD) in young rats. To confirm this, we have studied the distribution of neurotensin-like immunoreactive (NTIR) fibers in MD during development, using three antisera directed at different parts of the neurotensin molecule (Emson et al., J. Neurochem. 38:992-999, '82). In adult rats, NTIR fibers in MD are sparse. They are located mostly at the medial edge of MD and in the adjacent midline thalamic nuclei, with a few poorly stained NTIR fibers in the central part of MD. In contrast, during the first postnatal week, both the medial and central portions of MD stain heavily for neurotensin. The density of NTIR fibers in MD then progressively decreases until the density typical of adult rats is reached, at about 5 weeks. Changes in the distribution of NTIR fibers in MD also occur. In 7-day-old rats, the patches of NTIR fibers in the medial and central parts of MD are contiguous, but by 10 days a sparsely immunoreactive zone forms between them. With maturation, this zone enlarges as the density of neurotensin staining decreases, until the medial contingent of NTIR fibers reaches its adult position at the medial edge of MD. From a comparison of the distribution of NTIR cells with that of cells that can be retrogradely labeled from MD or the midline thalamus, the probable source of the NTIR fibers to the central part of MD is in the deep layer of the piriform cortex, while the NTIR fibers to the medial edge of MD and the midline nuclei may arise from the preoptic region and the medial amygdala. In neonatal rats, neurons are found in the piriform cortex, the preoptic region, and the medial amygdala, which can be double-labeled both for neurotensin and with a retrograde tracer injected into MD and the midline thalamus. Projections of the preoptic region to the thalamus have a distribution similar to that of the medial population of NTIR fibers, whereas the distribution of piriform cortical afferents in central MD matches the central patch of NTIR fibers.

Aging↗
PubMed1984

An autoradiographic study of topographical relationships between pallidal and cerebellar projections to the cat thalamus.

Injections of 3H-leucine were made in the entopeduncular nucleus or dentate nucleus of the cerebellum in eight cats. The terminal projection zones of both pathways in the thalamus were studied using the sagittal plane and their relationships to one another as well as to cytoarchitectural boundaries of thalamic nuclei were compared. The data indicate that the territories controlled by the two projection systems are almost entirely segregated. The segregation is mainly along the antero-posterior axis as the main pallidal projection zone occupies the medio-ventral VA while the main dentate projection zone lies posterior to it in the VL. Furthermore, the dorsolateral part of the VA not occupied by pallidal projections receives dentate projections. In the VM, both afferent systems terminate in the lateral part of the nucleus with pallidal territory located anteriorly and dentate territory located posteriorly, again without overlap. As the delineations of nuclear subdivisions in the ventral thalamus of the cat have been a subject of some controversy, it is suggested that the boundaries of the VA, VL and VM in the cat thalamus be defined on the basis of basal ganglia and cerebellar projection zones.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMed1985

Effects of medial midbrain lesions on thermoresponsive neurons in the thalamus of the rat.

This study is concerned with midbrain influences on the transmission of thermal information from the rat's scrotal skin to the specific thalamus. Single unit recordings were made from neurons in the ventrobasal thalamus which responded to scrotal warming. After a thermoresponsive neuron had been identified, a small area of the medial midbrain was electrolytically lesioned and the thermal response of the unit was tested again. Lesioning the midbrain raphe nuclei, centralis or dorsalis, or parts of the central grey matter was always followed by a complete loss of thermal responsivity. Lesions which destroyed the rostral end of the nucleus raphe centralis together with parts of the adjacent reticular formation had no effect on thalamic discharge rates. It is concluded that the midbrain raphe nuclei and the central grey matter form an essential part of the extralemniscal pathways which transmit peripheral thermal information to the rat's thalamus.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMed1986

A note on the projection from the rostral thalamus to the visual hyperstriatum of the chicken (Gallus gallus).

The rostral thalamo-hyperstriatal projection in young chicks was examined following large injections of wheat germ agglutin labelled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP-WGA) into the hyperstriatum. Retrograde labelling of thalamic neurons was present in the dorsolateral thalamus, rostrolateral part (DLAlr) and dorsolateral thalamus, lateral part (DLL). There was no evidence of a contralateral projection from the lateral anterior thalamic nucleus (LA) to the posterior aspect of the visual hyperstriatum as reported recently by Boxer and Stanford (1985). Furthermore, a comparison of labelled neurons in the contralateral rostral thalamus following injections into either the left or right hyperstriatum revealed no difference in the number of neurons. The study could therefore not confirm the presence of an asymmetrical LA-hyperstriatal projection, as reported by the above authors.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Responses of neurones in the ventrobasal complex of the thalamus to orofacial noxious stimulation after large trigeminal tractotomy.

Single units were recorded, using extra-cellular glass microelectrodes, in the ventrobasal complex of the thalamus of rats under halothanenitrous oxide anaesthesia. The animals had previously undergone a large bilateral section of the trigeminal sensory complex just above the obex to deprive the caudal part of the trigeminal sensory complex (subnucleus caudalis) of its trigeminal afferents. As observed on frontal slices our lesions impaired the whole descending tract and, in most cases, the intratrigeminal pathways between the rostral and the caudal part of the complex. Forty-seven units responding to a somatic mechanical noxious stimulation applied to the trigeminal area were recorded in these conditions. Forty-two of these had a receptive field (or at least a part of it) in or around the oral and nasal cavities, and 5 in the peripheral part of the face. These data confirm the hypothesis that the rostral part of the trigeminal sensory complex participates in pain sensory pathways, as a first relay site between nociceptive primary afferents coming from oral, perioral and perinasal areas, and the ventrobasal complex of the thalamus. In addition, they suggest that the intratrigeminal pathways are not essential for the transmission of these nociceptive inputs, to the lateral thalamus.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1993

Monoclonal antibody Cat-301 selectively identifies a subset of nuclei in the cat's somatosensory thalamus.

Recently it has been demonstrated that the monoclonal antibody Cat-301 is capable of identifying functionally related neurons in the mammalian visual thalamus. We have examined the possibility that this antibody might display a similar capacity in nonvisual thalamic areas. We demonstrate that in the cat's somatosensory thalamus the distribution of Cat-301-positive cells and neuropil is restricted to a subset of nuclei. These include the ventroposterior medial, ventroposterior lateral, and ventroposterior inferior nuclei. Staining with Cat-301 provides a clear visualisation of the entire somatotopic map within these nuclei. The somatosensory sector of the thalamic reticular nucleus and the perireticular nucleus, which may have a somatosensory sector, are also Cat-301-positive. In contrast, cells that do not express the Cat-301 antigen are located in the ventroposterior oralis nucleus, the ventroposterior shell region, the medial and lateral divisions of the posterior nuclear group, and the inner small cell region adjacent to the thalamic reticular nucleus. In comparison with previous physiological studies, cells that express the Cat-301 antigen most likely represent subpopulations in only a few of the somatic submodality-specific groups. These include cells in the small-field and Pacinian cutaneous-responsive groups, excluding cells in the wide-field cutaneous-, muscle-, joint-, and noxious-responsive groups. Taken together these findings indicate that monoclonal antibody Cat-301 is capable of selectively identifying neurons with distinct functional properties in the mammalian somatosensory thalamus.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Role of the posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus in mechanism of information transmission to the visual cortex.

It has been demonstrated in chronic experiments on wakeful rabbits that the posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus exerts tonic and phasic facilitatory influences on the formation of responses of the visual cortex elicited by a light flash. The tonic influences were expressed in an increase in the amplitude parameters of the responses of the visual cortex in conditions of the formation in the posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus of a focus of heightened excitability (anode polarization), and their perceptible diminution with potassium depression in this nucleus. The phasic influences were expressed in the formation in the visual cortex of thalamocortical responses elicited by pulse stimulation of the posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus, which displayed a close interaction with the responses of the cortex elicited by the light flash. This interaction consisted in a noticeable facilitation of the responses of the visual cortex against the background of a conditioning pulse stimulation of the posterolateral nucleus. The facilitatory effect of the phasic influences was more significant than the effect of the tonic influence.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Long-term increases in neuronal activity in the motor cortex evoked by simultaneous stimulation of the thalamus and somatosensory cortex in cats.

Experiments on anesthetized cats were used to study the activity of motor cortex neurons (field 4 gamma) in response to separate and simultaneous stimulation of the ventrolateral nucleus of the thalamus and the somatosensory cortex (field 2) of the brain. Long-term potentiation of motor cortex neuron activity in response to simultaneous stimulation of the ventrolateral nucleus and somatosensory cortex arose only in regions receiving corticocortical projections from the stimulation site in the somatosensory cortex of the brain, while regions lacking corticocortical projections from the somatosensory cortex showed no such effect. Experiments demonstrated that the duration of increased motor cortex neuron activity following stimulation of the ventrolateral nucleus of the thalamus and somatosensory cortex was greater than one hour after recording was started. These data led to the conclusion that simultaneous stimulation of corticocortical and thalamocortical afferents can alter the level of neuronal activity in the motor cortex only in regions with convergent sensory inputs from the thalamus and somatosensory cortex of the brain.

Action Potentials↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Involvement of the parafascicular nucleus of the thalamus and the cholinoreactive system of the neostriatum in controlling a food-procuring reflex in rats at different stages of learning.

A model of a Skinner box food-procuring reflex in rats was used to study the relationship between the strength applied to a pedal and disruption of the parafascicular nucleus of the thalamus and microinjections of the cholinolytic scopolamine and the cholinomimetic carbachol into the neostriatum at different stages of learning. In untrained rats at the stage of learning to press strongly on the pedal without the conditioned signal being switched on (i.e., every strong press was rewarded) showed (a) a decrease in the rate of learning to press strongly and an increase in the number of weak pedal presses after bilateral lesioning of the parafascicular nucleus of the thalamus; (b) that rats with bilateral lesions of this nucleus responded to microinjections of scopolamine into the neostriatum with increases in the number of strong presses, with no change in the number of weak pedal presses, while microinjections of carbachol decreased the number of strong and increased the number of weak presses as compared with the pre-microinjection baseline. In trained rats at the stage of recovery the reflex (i.e., strong pedal presses were reinforced only during exposure to the conditioned signal), lesioning of the parafascicular nucleus of the thalamus had the effect that the time required for recovery of the reflex became dependent on the level of pre-operative training; scopolamine microinjections into the neostriatum of rats achieving high levels of correct performances of the reflex only after surgery led to sharp degradation in performance of the reflex on the day of microinjections; microinjection of carbachol into the neostriatum of rats with low post-operative levels of performance of the reflex had no effect on this measure.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Improved differentiation of tactile activations in human secondary somatosensory cortex and thalamus using cardiac-triggered fMRI.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can reveal human brain activations with high precision. The accuracy may, however, be impaired by movement and deformation of brain tissue associated with cardiac pulsations. Here we corrected for such artifacts by time-locking the fMRI data acquisition to the cardiac cycle in ten subjects who received tactile stimuli to their lips, fingers, and toes. The imaged brain areas covered the parietal operculum and the thalamus, including the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII) bilaterally. Variance of the blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal decreased on average by 38-40% in the SII cortex and by 26% in the thalamus during cardiac triggering compared with conventional imaging. Consequently, statistically significant responses were seen both in the SII cortex and in the ventroposterior thalamus in a larger number of subjects. At the cortical level, the activation pattern revealed two distinct representations for both fingers and toes in the SII region, and the more medial representations were detected with enhanced clarity during cardiac-triggered imaging. In the group-level analysis, the thalamic response to finger stimulation was seen with cardiac triggering, only.

Adult↗
PubMed2007

Primary structural modules of the dorsal nuclei of the thalamus and motor cortex in humans.

The aim of the present work was to study the primary structure of the modular organization of neurons in the dorsal nucleus of the thalamus (ventral anterior, ventral lateral, anterior ventral, anterior medial, anterior dorsal, medial, reticular) and motor cortex (fields 4 and 6) in humans by the Nissl, Kluver-Barrera, and Golgi silver nitrate impregnation methods. These studies showed that neurons in the dorsal nuclei of the thalamus and the motor cortex are organized as small groups and short chains fulfilling defined criteria. These neuronal complexes, forming individual structural units, were termed primary structural modules. Comparison of primary structural modules in the dorsal nuclei and motor cortex showed that the principles of organization were identical in both locations. Thus, the dorsal nuclei of the thalamus and motor cortex in humans show two principles of the organization of neurons into primary structural modules: the group and chain principles.

Humans↗
PubMed1984

Mast cells in rat thalamus: nuclear localization, sex difference and left-right asymmetry.

Mast cells were positively identified in rat brain by a combination of staining and histochemical procedures. These cells stained positively with toluidine blue and Astrablau at low pH, indicating the presence of a proteoglycan similar to that found in peripheral mast cells. Brain mast cells also fluoresced after o-phthalaldehyde exposure, indicating that they contain histamine. Mast cells varied greatly in number among brains, but their distribution was almost exclusively thalamic; within thalamus, the ventral complex, medial dorsal, lateral, and paraventricular nuclei contained the most mast cells. Mast cell numbers were greater in brains of females than of males, and greater in left than in right hemispheres. These findings suggest that mast cells have a specialized function in thalamus and/or that the vascular environment of the thalamus is particularly conducive to mast cell accumulation.

Animals↗