Topographical organization of the brainstem afferents to the lateral posterior-pulvinar thalamic complex in the cat

Abstract

Following stereotaxic injections of horseradish peroxidase in the dorsal thalamus of the cat which were restricted to the lateralis posterior-pulvinar complex, labelled neurons were found in the superficial layers of the superior colliculus and in the brainstem. The retrogradely-filled cells of the brainstem were situated principally in the nucleus tegmenti pedunculopontinus, the locus coeruleus complex, the parabrachial nuclei and the dorsal tegmental nucleus of Gudden; in each case, labelled cells were more numerous on the ipsilateral side. In addition, some scattered neurons were observed in the central grey matter, the mesencephalic reticular formation, the central superior and dorsal raphe nuclei, the cuneiform nucleus reticularis gigantocellularis, the nucleus praepositus hypoglossi and the oculomotor nuclei. The differential organization of these projections were observed. It is concluded that the rostrointermediate subdivision of the lateralis posterior-pulvinar complex receives most of its connections from the nucleus tegmenti pedunculopontinus, from the deep layers of the superior colliculus and from the other brainstem nuclei, while the caudal subdivision (extrageniculate visual subdivision) receives its main projection from the superficial layers of the superior colliculus. The findings may have functional implications for the role of the complex in oculomotor control.