title: Nucleus reuniens of the thalamus contains head direction cells.
abstract: Discrete populations of brain cells signal heading direction, rather like a compass. These 'head direction' cells are largely confined to a closely-connected network of sites. We describe, for the first time, a population of head direction cells in nucleus reuniens of the thalamus in the freely-moving rat. This novel subcortical head direction signal potentially modulates the hippocampal CA fields directly and, thus, informs spatial processing and memory.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Maciej M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Jankowski
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Md Nurul
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nicholas F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Seralynne D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Vann
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry and Visual Science, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jonathan T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Erichsen
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Aggleton
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Shane M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: O'Mara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D020644:Midline Thalamic Nuclei / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D013037:Spatial Behavior
keywords: head direction cells; neurophysiology; neuroscience; rat; synaptic transmission