[Functional-morphologic analysis of several cortico-caudate connections]

Abstract

The connections of motor, auditory, vestibular, associative, and visual areas of the cat cerebral cortex with caudate nucleus (CN), their topographical organization and mutual overlapping of their projection areas within CN, were studied. The cortical areas were found to be connected with CN simultaneously with fibers of different diameters, their relation as well as topography of terminals being different within morphologically heterogenous CN. Studies of terminal degeneration in CN after cortical ablations revealed a greater number of cortico-caudate pathways which included the synapses different in their localization, bouton sizes and the degeneration rate. Specifics of the organization of direct connections between functionally different cortical areas with CN in respect to physiological data, are discussed.