Summary
Cortical surface potentials evoked from thalamic intralaminar nuclei have been studied in rats anaesthetized with chloralose. Stimulation with low current intensity in central lateral nucleus (CL), evoked potentials in large areas of the rat isocortex. In the posterior parietal cortex responses with a short latency negativity were evoked which followed high frequency repetitive stimulation. Its latency and ability to follow high frequency stimulation indicated a monosynaptic connection from CL to this part of the cortex. The short latency potential was followed by a second negativity with longer latency and varying amplitude. This second negativity did not follow repetitive stimulation exceeding 10 Hz, and was also reduced by supplementary doses of anaesthetics, indicating a polysynaptic origin. Stimulation at different CL sites elicited cortical potentials with short latency in a topographical pattern. Laminar analysis in the parietal and motor cortex suggested both a superficial and a deep layer termination of afferents from CL. Similar topografical relations and afferent layer distributions have previously been found in cats. The role of the thalamocortical projection from CL to parietal cortex in arousal, attention and pain mechanisms is discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albe-Fessard D, Besson JM (1973) Convergent thalamic and cortical projection: the non-specific system. In: Iggo A (ed) Somatosensory system. Handbook of sensory physiology, Vol II. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 489–560
Albe-Fessard D, Berkley KJ, Kruger L, Ralston HJ III, Willis WD (1985) Diencephalic mechanisms of pain sensation. Brain Res Rev 9: 217–296
Andersen P, Andersson SA (1968) Physiological basis of the alpha rhythm. In: Towe A (ed) The neuroscience series, Vol I. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York
Andersen P, Eccles JC, Sears TA (1964) The ventro-basal complex of the thalamus: types of cells, their responses and their functional organization. J Physiol (Lond) 174: 370–399
Creutzfeldt OD, Watanabe S, Lux HD (1966) Relations between EEG phenomena and potentials of single cortical cells. I. Evoked responses after thalamic and epicortical stimulation. EEG Clin Neurophysiol 20: 1–18
Dong WK, Ryu H, Wagman IH (1978) Nociceptive responses of neurones in medial thalamus and their relationship to spinothalamic pathways. J Neurophysiol 41: 1592–1613
Foster JA (1980) Intracortical origin of recruting responses in the cat cortex. EEG Clin Neurophysiol 48: 639–653
Fox K, Armstrong-James M (1986) The role of the anterior intralaminar nuclei and N-methyl D-aspartate receptors in the generation of spontaneous bursts in rat neocortical neurons. Exp Brain Res 63: 505–518
Giesler GJ, Spiel HR Jr, Willis WD (1981) Organization of spinothalamic tract axons within the rat spinal cord. J Comp Neurol 195: 243–252
Guilbaud G (1985) Thalamic nociceptive systems. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B 308: 339–345
Gonzales-Lima F, Scheich H (1985) Ascending reticular activating system in the rat: a 2-deoxyglucose study. Brain Res 344: 70–88
Gustafsson B, Jankowska E (1976) Direct and indirect activation of nerv cells by electrical pulses applied extracellularly. J Physiol 254: 33–61
Hall DR, Lindholm EP (1974) Organization of motor and somatosensory neocortex in the albino rat. Brain Res 66: 23–38
Haroian AJ, Massopust LC, Young P (1981) Cerebellothalamic projections in the rat: an autoradiographic and degeneration study. J Comp Neurol 197: 217–236
Herkenham M (1980) Laminar organization of thalamic projections to the rat. Science 207: 532–534
Itoh K, Mizuno N (1977) Topographical arrangement of thalamocortical neurones in the centrolateral nucleus (CL) of the cat, with special reference to a spino-thalamo-motor cortical path through the CL. Exp Brain Res 30: 471–480
Jankowska E, Roberts WJ (1972) An electrophysiological demonstration of the axonal projections of single spinal interneurone in the cat. J Physiol 249: 597–622
Jasper HH (1960) Unspecific thalamocortical relations. In: Field J (ed) Neurophysiology. Handbook of physiology, Vol II. American Physiological Society, Washington DC, pp 1307–1321
Jones EG, Leavitt RY (1974) Retrograde axonal transport and the demonstration of non-specific projection to the cerebral cortex and striatum from thalamic intralaminar nuclei in the rat, cat and monkey. J Comp Neurol 154: 349–378
Kaas JH (1983) What, if anything is SI? Organization of first somatosensory area of cortex. Physiol Rev 63: 206–231
Kayser V, Guilbaud G (1984) Further evidence for changes in the responsiveness of somatosensory neurons in arthritic rats: a study of the posterior intralaminar region of the thalamus. Brain Res 323: 144–147
Krieg WJS (1946a) Connections of the cerebral cortex. I. The albino rat. A. Topography of the cortical areas. J Comp Neurol 46: 221–275
Krieg WJS (1946b) Connections of the cerebral cortex. I. The albino rat. B. Structure of the cortical areas. J Comp Neurol 84: 277–323
Lamour Y, Guilbaud G, Willer JC (1983) Altered properties and laminar distribution of neuronal responses to peripheral stimulation in the SmI cortex of the arthritic rat. Brain Res 273: 183–187
Libouban-Letouze S (1964) Etudes électrophysiologiques des structures cérébrale du rat blanc. Doctorial thesis. Univ Paris
Macchi G, Bentiviglio M, D'Atena C, Rossini P, Temesta E (1977) The cortical projection of the thalamic intralaminar nuclei restudied by means of the HRP retrograde axonal transport. Neurosci Lett 4: 121–126
MacLeod NK, James TA (1984) Regulation of cerebello-cortical transmission in the rat ventromedial thalamic nucleus. Exp Brain Res 55: 535–552
Molinari M, Bentivoglio M, Minicacchi D, Macchi G (1986) Spinal afferents and cortical efferents of the anterograde and retrograde tracing study. Neurosci Lett 77: 258–264
Morison RS, Dempsey EW (1942) A study of thalamo-cortical relations. Am J Physiol 135: 281–292
Nothias F, Peschanski M, Besson J-M (1988) Somatotopic reciprocal connections between the somatosensory cortex and the thalamic Po nucleus in rat. Brain Res 447: 169–174
Peschanski M (1984) Trigeminal afferents to the diencephalon in the rat. Neuroscience 12: 465–487
Peschanski M, Besson J-M (1984) A spino-reticulo-thalamic pathway in the rat: an anatomical study with reference to pain transmission. Neuroscience 12: 165–178
Peschanski M, Guilbaud G, Gautron M (1981) Posterior intralaminar region in rat: neuronal responses to noxious and nonnoxious cutaneous stimuli. Exp Neurol 72: 226–238
Paxinos G, Watson C (1982) The rat brain in stereotaxic coordinates. Academic Press, New York
Pellegrin A, Curro-Dossi R, Ermani M, Zanotto L, Testa G (1987) On the intracortical activity during recruting response: an analysis of laminar profiles before and after topical application of GABA to the cortex. Exp Brain Res 66: 409–420
Rydenhag B (1985) Thalamic nociceptive mechanisms. Thesis. University of Göteborg
Rydenhag B, Roos A (1986) Projection of tooth pulp afferents to the thalamus of the cat. Exp Brain Res 64: 49–58
Rydenhag B, Olausson B, Shyu B-C, Andersson S (1986a) Localized responses in the midsuprasylvian gyrus of the cat following stimulation of the central lateral nucleus in thalamus. Exp Brain Res 62: 11–24
Rydenhag B, Olausson B, Andersson S (1986b) Projection of tooth pulp afferents to the thalamus of the cat. Exp Brain Res 64: 37–48
Sofroniew MV, Priestley JV, Consolazione A, Eckenstein F, Cuello AC (1985) Cholinergic projections from the midbrain and pons to the thalamus in the rat, identified by combined retrograde tracing and choline acetyltransferase immunohistochemistry. Brain Res 329: 213–223
Ullan J (1985) Cortical topography of thalamic intralaminar nuclei. Brain Res 328: 333–340
Yamasaki DSG, Krauthamer GM, Rhoades W (1986) Superior collicular projection to intralaminar thalamus in rat. Brain Res 378: 223–233
Zilles K (1985) The cortex of the rat: a stereotaxic atlas. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York Tokyo
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Olausson, B., Shyu, B.C. & Rydenhag, B. Projection from the thalamic intralaminar nuclei on the isocortex of the rat: a surface potential study. Exp Brain Res 75, 543–554 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00249905
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00249905