title: The pulvinar regulates information transmission between cortical areas based on attention demands.
abstract: Selective attention mechanisms route behaviorally relevant information through large-scale cortical networks. Although evidence suggests that populations of cortical neurons synchronize their activity to preferentially transmit information about attentional priorities, it is unclear how cortical synchrony across a network is accomplished. Based on its anatomical connectivity with the cortex, we hypothesized that the pulvinar, a thalamic nucleus, regulates cortical synchrony. We mapped pulvino-cortical networks within the visual system, using diffusion tensor imaging, and simultaneously recorded spikes and field potentials from these interconnected network sites in monkeys performing a visuospatial attention task. The pulvinar synchronized activity between interconnected cortical areas according to attentional allocation, suggesting a critical role for the thalamus not only in attentional selection but more generally in regulating information transmission across the visual cortex.
authors.affiliation: Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. saalmann@princeton.edu
authors.forename: Yuri B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Saalmann
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pinsk
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kastner
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003344:Cortical Synchronization; D003463:Cues; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D020649:Pulvinar / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*