Nucleus reuniens of the thalamus contains head direction cells.

ABSTRACT: Discrete populations of brain cells signal heading direction, rather like a compass. These 'head direction' cells are largely confined to a closely-connected network of sites. We describe, for the first time, a population of head direction cells in nucleus reuniens of the thalamus in the freely-moving rat. This novel subcortical head direction signal potentially modulates the hippocampal CA fields directly and, thus, informs spatial processing and memory.

SUBMITTER: Jankowski MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4115655 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature