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First order connections of the visual sector of the thalamic reticular nucleus in marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2007

THOMAS FITZGIBBON ,
BRETT A. SZMAJDA  and
PAUL R. MARTIN
THOMAS FITZGIBBON
Affiliation:
Discipline of Anatomy & Histology, School of Medical Sciences and Bosch Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia National Vision Research Institute of Australia, Carlton, Victoria, Australia
BRETT A. SZMAJDA
Affiliation:
National Vision Research Institute of Australia, Carlton, Victoria, Australia Department of Optometry & Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria, Australia
PAUL R. MARTIN
Affiliation:
National Vision Research Institute of Australia, Carlton, Victoria, Australia Department of Optometry & Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria, Australia
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Abstract

The thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) supplies an important inhibitory input to the dorsal thalamus. Previous studies in non-primate mammals have suggested that the visual sector of the TRN has a lateral division, which has connections with first-order (primary) sensory thalamic and cortical areas, and a medial division, which has connections with higher-order (association) thalamic and cortical areas. However, the question whether the primate TRN is segregated in the same manner is controversial. Here, we investigated the connections of the TRN in a New World primate, the marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). The topography of labeled cells and terminals was analyzed following iontophoretic injections of tracers into the primary visual cortex (V1) or the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd). The results show that rostroventral TRN, adjacent to the LGNd, is primarily connected with primary visual areas, while the most caudal parts of the TRN are associated with higher order visual thalamic areas. A small region of the TRN near the caudal pole of the LGNd (foveal representation) contains connections where first (lateral TRN) and higher order visual areas (medial TRN) overlap. Reciprocal connections between LGNd and TRN are topographically organized, so that a series of rostrocaudal injections within the LGNd labeled cells and terminals in the TRN in a pattern shaped like rostrocaudal overlapping “fish scales.” We propose that the dorsal areas of the TRN, adjacent to the top of the LGNd, represent the lower visual field (connected with medial LGNd), and the more ventral parts of the TRN contain a map representing the upper visual field (connected with lateral LGNd).

Keywords

VisionPrimateLateral geniculate nucleusStriate cortexTract tracingThalamus
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 24 , Issue 6 , November 2007 , pp. 857 - 874
Copyright
2007 Cambridge University Press

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