Sensory properties and afferents of the N. dorsolateralis posterior thalami of the pigeon

Abstract

According to previous studies, the avian n. dorsolateralis posterior thalami (DLP) receives visual and somatosensory afferents. While some authors (e.g., Gamlin and Cohen: J. Comp. Neurol. 250:296-310, '86) proposed a distinction between a visual caudal (DLPc) and a somatosensory rostral (DLPr) part, other authors (e.g., Wild: Brain Res. 412:205-223, '87) could not confirm such a differentiation. The aim of the present experiment was to study with physiological and anatomical methods the proposed parcellation of the DLP into various components dealing with different modalities. The physiological properties of the DLP of the pigeon were analysed with extracellular single unit recordings. With the same approach, neurons of the n. dorsalis intermedius ventralis anterior (DIVA), a somatosensory relay nucleus in the dorsal thalamus, were also analysed. The afferents of the DLP were studied by using anatomical tract tracing techniques with retrograde and anterograde tracers. The sensory properties of DLP cells revealed that somatosensory, visual, and auditory modalities affect the neuronal firing frequency in this nucleus. All three modalities were present throughout the full caudorostral extent of the DLP. Cells recorded in DIVA responded nearly exclusively to somatosensory stimulation. Unlike the DLP, single units in DIVA generally had smaller receptive fields encompassing only one extremity. The analysis of afferent connections of the DLP by using injections of retrograde and anterograde tracers (HRP, WGA-HRP, Fast Blue, and Rhodamine-beta-isothiocyanate) demonstrated extensive projections from the nuclei gracilis et cuneatus (GC) and more sparse projections from the nucleus tractus descendens trigemini (TTD), and the nucleus cuneatus externus (CE). Brainstem afferents of the DLP came from different vestibular nuclei, various areas of the brainstem reticular formation, and the optic tectum. Prosencephalic afferents originated in the n. posteroventralis thalami (PV), the n. ventromedialis posterior thalami (VMP), the n. dorsalis intermedius ventralis anterior (DIVA), and the nucleus reticularis superior pars dorsalis and ventralis (RSd and RSv). Telencephalic afferents of the DLP came from the hyperstriatum accessorium (HA) and a group of cells at the borderline between the hyperstriatum intercalatus superior (HIS) and the hyperstriatum dorsale (HD). The somatosensory afferents of the DLP probably originate from the GC, TTD, and CE, whereas it is likely that the visual input is mediated by the optic tectum. The anatomical source for the acoustic input is unclear. The very long latencies of auditory DLP neurons make it likely that the acoustic input originates at least partly in the reticular formation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)