PMID: 9651010Jul 3, 1998Paper

Patterns of brainstem projection to the thalamic reticular nucleus

The Journal of Comparative Neurology
C Kolmac, J Mitrofanis

Abstract

To understand better how the brainstem may influence thalamocortical activity, we have examined the projection patterns of different brainstem nuclei to the thalamic reticular nucleus. Iontophoretic injections of biotinylated dextran were made into various nuclei of the brainstem (superior colliculus, periaqueductal grey matter, parabrachial nucleus, pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus, laterodorsal tegmental nucleus, substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area, and locus coeruleus) of Sprague-Dawley rats by using stereotaxic coordinates. Our results show that afferents from each brainstem nucleus make distinct zones within the reticular nucleus. For example, the superior colliculus projects largely to the dorsal parts of the reticular nucleus, whereas the pedunculopontine nucleus projects to the ventral parts of the reticular nucleus. The substantia nigra, on the other hand, projects to the ventrolateral edge of the reticular nucleus. We also examined the distribution of these brainstem afferents within the dorsal thalamus and compared these distributions with those seen in the reticular nucleus. We found three different patterns. First, a given brainstem nucleus projects to a particular dorsal thalamic nucleus as well as to the c...Continue Reading

Citations

Jun 15, 2010·Brain Research·L DomínguezN Moreno
May 30, 2012·The European Journal of Neuroscience·Robert A MarinoDouglas P Munoz
Jul 28, 2011·Neuron·Yuri B Saalmann, Sabine Kastner
Oct 14, 2008·Nature·Kerry McAlonanRobert H Wurtz

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