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Vision (Basel, Switzerland) Mar 2020The pulvinar, also called the lateral posterior nucleus of the thalamus in rodents, is one of the higher-order thalamic relays and the main visual extrageniculate...
The pulvinar, also called the lateral posterior nucleus of the thalamus in rodents, is one of the higher-order thalamic relays and the main visual extrageniculate thalamic nucleus in rodents and primates. Although primate studies report the pulvinar is engaged under attentional demands, there are open questions about the detailed role of the pulvinar in visuospatial attention. The pulvinar provides the primary thalamic input to the posterior parietal cortex (PPC). Both the pulvinar and the PPC are known to be important for visuospatial attention. Our previous work showed that neuronal activity in the PPC correlated with multiple phases of a visuospatial attention (VSA) task, including onset of the visual stimuli, decision-making, task-relevant locations, and behavioral outcomes. Here, we hypothesized that the pulvinar, as the major thalamic input to the PPC, is involved in visuospatial attention as well as in other cognitive functions related to the processing of visual information. We recorded the neuronal activity of the pulvinar in rats during their performance on the VSA task. The task was designed to engage goal-directed, top-down attention as well as stimulus-driven, bottom-up attention. Rats monitored three possible locations for the brief appearance of a target stimulus. An approach to the correct target location was followed by a liquid reward. For analysis, each trial was divided into behavioral epochs demarcated by stimulus onset, selection behavior, and approach to reward. We found that neurons in the pulvinar signaled stimulus onset and selection behavior consistent with the interpretation that the pulvinar is engaged in both bottom-up and top-down visuospatial attention. Our results also suggested that pulvinar cells responded to allocentric and egocentric task-relevant locations.
PubMed: 32121530
DOI: 10.3390/vision4010015 -
Epilepsia Apr 2019We investigated the effect of electrical stimulation of the medial pulvinar (PuM) in terms of its effect on temporal lobe seizures. Eight patients with drug-resistant... (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial
We investigated the effect of electrical stimulation of the medial pulvinar (PuM) in terms of its effect on temporal lobe seizures. Eight patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy undergoing stereoelectroencephalographic exploration were included. All had at least one electrode exploring the PuM. High-frequency (50 Hz) stimulations of the PuM were well tolerated in the majority of them. During diagnostic stimulation to confirm the epileptogenic zone, 19 seizures were triggered by stimulating the hippocampus. During some of these seizures, ipsilateral pulvinar stimulation was applied (130 Hz, pulse width = 450 microseconds, duration = 3-7 seconds, 1-2 mA). Compared to non-PuM-stimulated seizures, five of eight patients experienced clinically less severe seizures, particularly in terms of degree of alteration of consciousness. On the electrical level, seizures were more rapidly clonic with a shorter tonic phase. This proof of concept study is the first to suggest that PuM stimulation could be a well-tolerated and effective means of therapeutic deep brain stimulation in drug-resistant epilepsies.
Topics: Adult; Child; Drug Resistant Epilepsy; Electric Stimulation Therapy; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Proof of Concept Study; Pulvinar; Seizures
PubMed: 30767195
DOI: 10.1111/epi.14677 -
Cortex; a Journal Devoted To the Study... Oct 2021Models attempting to explain the pathogenesis of adult onset idiopathic focal dystonia often fail to accommodate the entire spectrum of this disorder: the diverse motor...
Models attempting to explain the pathogenesis of adult onset idiopathic focal dystonia often fail to accommodate the entire spectrum of this disorder: the diverse motor and non-motor symptoms, psychiatric and cognitive dysfunction, as well as the sub-clinical, physiological and anatomical, abnormalities. We propose, and present the accumulating evidence, that the adult onset dystonia syndrome is due to disruption in the covert-attentional network, the unconscious sub-cortical mechanism for the detection of potentially environmentally threatening (salient) stimuli, involving the collicular-pulvinar-amygdala network. A critical consideration of this network indicates a number of hypothesis-generated research questions aimed at elucidating the pathogenesis of adult onset dystonia. Given the rarity of adult onset dystonia, international, multidisciplinary, multicentre studies are required to elucidate the prevalence of non-motor symptoms in unaffected relatives, in particular, using temporal discrimination. Research focussing on the non-motor symptoms and the collicular-pulvinar-amygdala pathway may be the key to understanding adult-onset idiopathic focal dystonias (AOIFD) pathophysiology.
Topics: Adult; Amygdala; Attention; Dystonic Disorders; Humans; Prevalence; Pulvinar
PubMed: 34148640
DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.05.010 -
Advances in Anatomy, Embryology, and... 2018The pulvinar receives direct visual information from the retina and indirect visual information from several cortical and subcortical areas. In this chapter, we discuss...
The pulvinar receives direct visual information from the retina and indirect visual information from several cortical and subcortical areas. In this chapter, we discuss the visuotopic organization of the primate pulvinar. Electrophysiological techniques have been systematically employed to study pulvinar visuotopy in the owl, capuchin, and macaque monkeys. A single map of the visual field has been described in the pulvinar of the owl monkey, while two independent maps have been described in the capuchin and macaque pulvinar.
Topics: Animals; Aotus trivirgatus; Brain Mapping; Primates; Pulvinar; Retina; Visual Fields; Visual Pathways
PubMed: 29116445
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-70046-5_4 -
Clinical Neurophysiology : Official... Jun 2023To evaluate the respective roles of the anterior thalamic nucleus (ANT) and the medial pulvinar (PuM) during mesial temporal lobe seizures recorded by...
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the respective roles of the anterior thalamic nucleus (ANT) and the medial pulvinar (PuM) during mesial temporal lobe seizures recorded by stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG).
METHODS
We assessed functional connectivity (FC) in 15 SEEG recorded seizures from 6 patients using a non-linear correlation method. Functional interactions were explored between the mesial temporal region, the temporal neocortex, ANT and PuM. The node total-strength (the summed connectivity of the node with all other nodes) as well as the directionality of the links (IN and OUT strengths) were calculated to estimate drivers and receivers during the cortico-thalamic interactions.
RESULTS
Significant increased thalamo-cortical FC during seizures was observed, with the node total-strength reaching a maximum at seizure end. There was no significant difference in global connectivity values between ANT and PuM. Regarding directionality, significantly higher thalamic IN strength values were observed. However, compared to ANT, PuM appeared to be the driver at the end of seizures with synchronous termination.
CONCLUSIONS
This work demonstrates that during temporal seizures, both thalamic nuclei are highly connected with the mesial temporal region and that PuM could play a role in seizure termination.
SIGNIFICANCE
Understanding functional connectivity between the mesial temporal and thalamic nuclei could contribute to the development of target-specific deep brain stimulation strategies for drug-resistant epilepsy.
Topics: Humans; Pulvinar; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe; Seizures; Temporal Lobe; Thalamic Nuclei; Anterior Thalamic Nuclei
PubMed: 37075682
DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2023.03.016 -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Jun 2010The coordinated movement of the eyes and hands under visual guidance is an essential part of goal-directed behavior. Several cortical areas known to be involved in this...
The coordinated movement of the eyes and hands under visual guidance is an essential part of goal-directed behavior. Several cortical areas known to be involved in this process exchange projections with the dorsal aspect of the thalamic pulvinar nucleus, suggesting that this structure may play a central role in visuomotor behavior. Here, we used reversible inactivation to investigate the role of the dorsal pulvinar in the selection and execution of visually guided manual and saccadic eye movements in macaque monkeys. We found that unilateral pulvinar inactivation resulted in a spatial neglect syndrome accompanied by visuomotor deficits including optic ataxia during visually guided limb movements. Monkeys were severely disrupted in their visually guided behavior regarding space contralateral to the side of the injection in several domains, including the following: (1) target selection in both manual and oculomotor tasks, (2) limb usage in a manual retrieval task, and (3) spontaneous visual exploration. In addition, saccades into the ipsilesional field had abnormally short latencies and tended to overshoot their mark. None of the deficits could be explained by a visual field defect or primary motor deficit. These findings highlight the importance of the dorsal aspect of the pulvinar nucleus as a critical hub for spatial attention and selection of visually guided actions.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Brain Mapping; Decision Making; Electrophysiology; Eye Movements; Female; GABA Agonists; Isoxazoles; Macaca mulatta; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Motor Activity; Muscimol; Neurons; Pulvinar; Visual Fields
PubMed: 20573910
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0953-10.2010 -
PloS One 2014There is growing evidence from both behavioral and neurophysiological approaches that primates are able to rapidly discriminate visually between snakes and innocuous...
There is growing evidence from both behavioral and neurophysiological approaches that primates are able to rapidly discriminate visually between snakes and innocuous stimuli. Recent behavioral evidence suggests that primates are also able to discriminate the level of threat posed by snakes, by responding more intensely to a snake model poised to strike than to snake models in coiled or sinusoidal postures (Etting and Isbell 2014). In the present study, we examine the potential for an underlying neurological basis for this ability. Previous research indicated that the pulvinar is highly sensitive to snake images. We thus recorded pulvinar neurons in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) while they viewed photos of snakes in striking and non-striking postures in a delayed non-matching to sample (DNMS) task. Of 821 neurons recorded, 78 visually responsive neurons were tested with the all snake images. We found that pulvinar neurons in the medial and dorsolateral pulvinar responded more strongly to snakes in threat displays poised to strike than snakes in non-threat-displaying postures with no significant difference in response latencies. A multidimensional scaling analysis of the 78 visually responsive neurons indicated that threat-displaying and non-threat-displaying snakes were separated into two different clusters in the first epoch of 50 ms after stimulus onset, suggesting bottom-up visual information processing. These results indicate that pulvinar neurons in primates discriminate between poised to strike from those in non-threat-displaying postures. This neuronal ability likely facilitates behavioral discrimination and has clear adaptive value. Our results are thus consistent with the Snake Detection Theory, which posits that snakes were instrumental in the evolution of primate visual systems.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Biological Evolution; Macaca; Neurons; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Photic Stimulation; Posture; Pulvinar; Reaction Time; Snakes
PubMed: 25479158
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114258 -
Journal of Neurophysiology Jan 2020Sensorimotor cortical areas contain eye position information thought to ensure perceptual stability across saccades and underlie spatial transformations supporting...
Sensorimotor cortical areas contain eye position information thought to ensure perceptual stability across saccades and underlie spatial transformations supporting goal-directed actions. One pathway by which eye position signals could be relayed to and across cortical areas is via the dorsal pulvinar. Several studies have demonstrated saccade-related activity in the dorsal pulvinar, and we have recently shown that many neurons exhibit postsaccadic spatial preference. In addition, dorsal pulvinar lesions lead to gaze-holding deficits expressed as nystagmus or ipsilesional gaze bias, prompting us to investigate the effects of eye position. We tested three starting eye positions (-15°, 0°, 15°) in monkeys performing a visually cued memory saccade task. We found two main types of gaze dependence. First, ~50% of neurons showed dependence on static gaze direction during initial and postsaccadic fixation, and might be signaling the position of the eyes in the orbit or coding foveal targets in a head/body/world-centered reference frame. The population-derived eye position signal lagged behind the saccade. Second, many neurons showed a combination of eye-centered and gaze-dependent modulation of visual, memory, and saccadic responses to a peripheral target. A small subset showed effects consistent with eye position-dependent gain modulation. Analysis of reference frames across task epochs from visual cue to postsaccadic fixation indicated a transition from predominantly eye-centered encoding to representation of final gaze or foveated locations in nonretinocentric coordinates. These results show that dorsal pulvinar neurons carry information about eye position, which could contribute to steady gaze during postural changes and to reference frame transformations for visually guided eye and limb movements. Work on the pulvinar focused on eye-centered visuospatial representations, but position of the eyes in the orbit is also an important factor that needs to be taken into account during spatial orienting and goal-directed reaching. We show that dorsal pulvinar neurons are influenced by eye position. Gaze direction modulated ongoing firing during stable fixation, as well as visual and saccade responses to peripheral targets, suggesting involvement of the dorsal pulvinar in spatial coordinate transformations.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Cues; Fixation, Ocular; Goals; Macaca mulatta; Male; Memory; Pulvinar; Saccades; Visual Perception
PubMed: 31747331
DOI: 10.1152/jn.00432.2019 -
Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive... 2020Executive dysfunction is common in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). The pulvinar nucleus plays a role in executive control and synchronizes with cortical regions in the...
INTRODUCTION
Executive dysfunction is common in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). The pulvinar nucleus plays a role in executive control and synchronizes with cortical regions in the salience network that are vulnerable to Lewy pathology.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the pulvinar subregions in patients with mild DLB and their associations with executive function.
METHODS
The sample consisted of 38 DLB patients and 38 age- and sex-matched normal controls. We evaluated cognitive function using the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Packet. We obtained four pulvinar nuclei using preprocessed T1-weighted magnetic resonance images. We compared volumes and textures of the DLB patients and the normal controls for each nucleus. We used a linear regression to determine the association of textures and neuropsychological test scores.
RESULTS
The DLB patients showed comparable volumes to the normal controls in all pulvinar nuclei. However, the DLB patients showed different texture of the left medial pulvinar (PuM) from the normal controls. The entropy, contrast, and cluster shade were lower but autocorrelation of left PuM was higher in the DLB patients compared to the normal controls. These texture features of the left PuM were associated with the set-shifting performance measured by the Trail Making Test.
CONCLUSIONS
In DLB, the left PuM may be altered from early stage, which may contribute to the development of executive dysfunction.
Topics: Aged; Cognition; Executive Function; Female; Humans; Lewy Body Disease; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Neuropsychological Tests; Pulvinar
PubMed: 32259816
DOI: 10.1159/000506798 -
Medicine Nov 2016Recent neuroimaging findings in general social anxiety disorder (gSAD) have extended our understanding of the neural mechanisms of gSAD beyond an amygdala-centric...
Recent neuroimaging findings in general social anxiety disorder (gSAD) have extended our understanding of the neural mechanisms of gSAD beyond an amygdala-centric fear-based hyperactivity model to include other brain regions and networks relevant to salient cues. In particular, higher order areas compromising visual networks that process emotional and social information have been implicated. The pulvinar anchors this network and is a key regulatory node that mediates complex sensory inputs and the integration between limbic and frontal brain systems. However, the role of the pulvinar and specifically alteration of its effective connectivity with the rest of the brain has not been examined in the pathophysiology of gSAD, a disorder characterized by aberrant socio-emotional processing. The main aim of this study was to examine the pulvinar network effective connectivity in gSAD. In this study, we recruited 21 individuals with gSAD and 19 demographically matched healthy controls (HC), who performed an emotional face processing task while brain activity was recorded using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). To examine pulvinar-based network dynamics, Granger causality (GC) based effective connectivity (EC) analysis was applied on fMRI data to compare gSAD and HC. The EC analysis revealed heightened casual influential dynamics between pulvinar in higher order visual and frontal regions in gSAD. In conclusion, these preliminary data suggest a novel network-based cortico-pulvino-cortical neural mechanism in the pathophysiology of gSAD.
Topics: Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Nerve Net; Phobia, Social; Pulvinar
PubMed: 27828859
DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000005358