The functional logic of cortico–pulvinar connections

作者：Stewart Shipp · 发表于：Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · 年份：2003 · DOI：10.1098/rstb.2002.1213 · 被引用次数：437 · 研究领域：Visual perception and processing mechanisms、Neural dynamics and brain function、Functional Brain Connectivity Studies

The pulvinar is an 'associative' thalamic nucleus, meaning that most of its input and output relationships are formed with the cerebral cortex. The function of this circuitry is little understood and its anatomy, though much investigated, is notably recondite. This is because pulvinar connection patterns disrespect the architectural subunits (anterior, medial, lateral and inferior pulvinar nuclei) that have been the traditional reference system. This article presents a simplified, global model of the organization of cortico-pulvinar connections so as to pursue their structure-function relationships. Connections between the cortex and pulvinar are topographically organized, and as a result the pulvinar contains a 'map' of the cortical sheet. However, the topography is very blurred. Hence the pulvinar connection zones of nearby cortical areas overlap, allowing indirect transcortical communication via the pulvinar. A general observation is that indirect cortico-pulvino-cortical circuits tend to mimic direct cortico-cortical pathways: this is termed 'the replication principle'. It is equally apt for certain pairs (or groups) of nearby cortical areas that happen not to connect with each other. The 'replication' of this non-connection is achieved by discontinuities and dislocations of the cortical topography within the pulvinar, such that the associated pair of connection zones do not overlap. Certain of these deformations can be used to divide the global cortical topography into s...