title: Thalamic projections to visual and visuomotor areas (V6 and V6A) in the Rostral Bank of the parieto-occipital sulcus of the Macaque.
abstract: The medial posterior parietal cortex of the primate brain includes different functional areas, which have been defined based on the functional properties, cyto- and myeloarchitectural criteria, and cortico-cortical connections. Here, we describe the thalamic projections to two of these areas (V6 and V6A), based on 14 retrograde neuronal tracer injections in 11 hemispheres of 9 Macaca fascicularis. The injections were placed either by direct visualisation or using electrophysiological guidance, and the location of injection sites was determined post mortem based on cyto- and myeloarchitectural criteria. We found that the majority of the thalamic afferents to the visual area V6 originate in subdivisions of the lateral and inferior pulvinar nuclei, with weaker inputs originating from the central densocellular, paracentral, lateral posterior, lateral geniculate, ventral anterior and mediodorsal nuclei. In contrast, injections in both the dorsal and ventral parts of the visuomotor area V6A revealed strong inputs from the lateral posterior and medial pulvinar nuclei, as well as smaller inputs from the ventrolateral complex and from the central densocellular, paracentral, and mediodorsal nuclei. These projection patterns are in line with the functional properties of injected areas: "dorsal stream" extrastriate area V6 receives information from visuotopically organised subdivisions of the thalamus; whereas visuomotor area V6A, which is involved in the sensory guidance of arm movement, receives its primary afferents from thalamic nuclei that provide high-order somatic and visual input.
authors: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Piazza di Porta S. Donato, 2, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
authors: Michela
authors: M
authors: Gamberini
authors: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Piazza di Porta S. Donato, 2, 40126, Bologna, Italy.|Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia.|Australian Research Council, Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia.
authors: Sophia
authors: S
authors: Bakola
authors: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Piazza di Porta S. Donato, 2, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
authors: Lauretta
authors: L
authors: Passarelli
authors: Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia.
authors: Kathleen J
authors: KJ
authors: Burman
authors: Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia.|Australian Research Council, Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Monash University Node, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia.
authors: Marcello G P
authors: MG
authors: Rosa
authors: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Piazza di Porta S. Donato, 2, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
authors: Patrizia
authors: P
authors: Fattori
authors: Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Piazza di Porta S. Donato, 2, 40126, Bologna, Italy. claudio.galletti@unibo.it.
authors: Claudio
authors: C
authors: Galletti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000166:cytology*; D020649:Pulvinar / Q000166:cytology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000166:cytology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000166:cytology*
keywords: Connectivity; Posterior parietal cortex; Primate; Sensorimotor input; Superior parietal lobule; Thalamus