Differential contributions of thalamic nuclei in the generation of antisaccades.

Our knowledge of thalamus function comes largely from anatomical studies showing, for example, that the ventroanterior (VA) and ventrolateral (VL) nuclei are connected to "motor" regions, whereas the mediodorsal (MD) nucleus is connected to prefrontal "executive" regions. Interestingly, Kunimatsu and Tanaka recently showed that preparatory signals for antisaccades (a motor response requiring executive control) were enhanced compared with prosaccades in the VA/VL but not in the MD, which is surprising given MD's connection to executive regions.