title: Afferent and efferent projections of the dorsal anterior thalamic nuclei in the lizard Podarcis hispanica (Sauria, Lacertidae).
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the afferent and efferent connections of the anterior thalamic nuclei in the lizard Podarcis hispanica. To identify potential sources of sensory inputs and to determine the fine organization of the projections of these thalamic nuclei to the telencephalon, we injected the sensitive tracer biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) into different nuclei of the anterior dorsal thalamus. We also injected BDA into several telencephalic areas in order to corroborate the results of thalamic injections. Our results show that the anterior thalamic nuclei receive projections from multiple areas and nuclei distributed throughout most of the brain, from rhombencephalon to telencephalon, and project to several telencephalic areas. The nucleus dorsolateralis anterior receives somatic (visual, somatosensory, auditory) as well as visceral inputs, and it is thus an important gateway for the relay of multisensory information to the telencephalon.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain. ester.desfilis@uv.es
authors.forename: Ester
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Desfilis
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Font
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belekhova
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kenigfest
mesh_terms: D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D020643:Anterior Thalamic Nuclei / Q000502:physiology*; D001710:Biotin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D003911:Dextrans; D004525:Efferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D008116:Lizards / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission
chemical_list: D003911:Dextrans; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; C076397:biotinylated dextran amine; D001710:Biotin