Posterior Thalamic Nucleus Modulation of Tactile Stimuli Processing in Rat Motor and Primary Somatosensory Cortices.

ABSTRACT: Rodents move rhythmically their facial whiskers and compute differences between signals predicted and those resulting from the movement to infer information about objects near their head. These computations are carried out by a large network of forebrain structures that includes the thalamus and the primary somatosensory (S1BF) and motor (M1wk) cortices. Spatially and temporally precise mechanorreceptive whisker information reaches the S1BF cortex via the ventroposterior medial thalamic nucleus (VPM). Other whisker-related information may reach both M1wk and S1BF via the axons from the posterior thalamic nucleus (Po). However, Po axons may convey, in addition to direct sensory signals, the dynamic output of computations between whisker signals and descending motor commands. It has been pro

SUBMITTER: Casas-Torremocha D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5623691 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature