We have examined rat basal forebrain projections to the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD) by making injections of retrogradely transported fluorescent tracers into the MD. Additionally, in some animals, we also stained sections for glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) by the indirect fluorescent antibody technique. Our results demonstrate that the following basal forebrain areas project to the MD: lat...

Afferents to the frontal association cortex (FAC) from structures involved in olfactory, visual and auditory functions were studied in 37 dogs using the method based on the retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase. Separate injections to FAC or to the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD) showed that sensory afferents could reach FAC by two channels: by direct cortico-cortical projecti...

Although the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is classically defined by its reciprocal connections with the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD), the nature of information transfer between MD and mPFC is poorly understood. In sensory thalamocortical pathways, thalamic recruitment of feedforward inhibition mediated by fast-spiking, putative parvalbumin-expressing (PV) interneurons is a key feature t...

Wilson's disease (WD) is a genetic disorder of copper metabolism with pathological copper accumulation in the brain and any other tissues. This article aimed to assess lesions in cerebello-thalamo-cortical network with an advanced technique of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in WD. 35 WD patients and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were recruited to accept diffusion-weighted images wi...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Depression occurs frequently in PD; however the neural basis of depression in PD remains unclear. The aim of this study was to characterize possible depression-related white matter microstructural changes in the thalamus of patients with DPD compared with those with NDPD. MATERIALS AND METHODS FA and MD maps from DTI were obtained in 14 patients with DPD and 18 patients...

We previously reported that neurons in the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD) are topographically organized and express spatial and nonspatial coding properties similar to those of the prefrontal areas with which they are connected. In the course of mapping the dorsal thalamus, we also studied neurons in a subset of thalamic nuclei (the caudal part of the ventral lateral nucleus (VLc), the oral ...

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results not only in motor deficits, but produces, in many patients, excruciating chronic pain (SCI pain). We have previously shown, in a rodent model, that SCI causes suppression of activity in the GABAergic nucleus, the zona incerta (ZI), and concomitant increased activity in one of its main targets, the posterior nucleus of the thalamus (PO); the increased PO activity...

In humans recognition memory deficits, a typical feature of diencephalic amnesia, have been tentatively linked to mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD) damage. Animal studies have occasionally investigated the role of the MD in single-item recognition, but have not systematically analyzed its involvement in other recognition memory processes. In Experiment 1 rats with bilateral excitotoxic lesions ...

The hypoactivity of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenics is well known. One cause of this hypoactivity may be defective corticocortical or thalamocortical connections. Recent imaging studies of the thalamus suggest reductions in volume of the whole thalamus and reduced activity in the medial group of thalamic nuclei, which may indicate loss of functional input to the cortex. Using s...