Pulvinar and other subcortical connections of dorsolateral visual cortex in monkeys

The present study used injections of neuroanatomical tracers to determine the subcortical connections of the caudal and rostral subdivisions of the dorsolateral area (DL) and the middle temporal crescent area (MT(C)) in owl monkeys (Aotus trivirgatus), squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus), and macaque monkeys (Macaca fascicularis and M. radiata). Emphasis was on connections with the pulvinar. Patterns of corticopulvinar connections were related to subdivisions of the inferior pulvinar (PI) defined by histochemical or immunocytochemical architecture. Connections of DL/MT(C) were with the PI subdivisions, PICM, PICL, and PIp; the lateral pulvinar (PL); and, more sparsely, the lateral portion of the medial pulvinar (PM). In squirrel monkeys, there was a tendency for caudal DL to have stronger connections with PICL than PICM and for rostral DL/MT(C) to have stronger connections with PICM than PICL. In all three primates, DL/MT(C) had reciprocal connections with the pulvinar and claustrum; received afferents from the locus coeruleus, dorsal raphe, nucleus annularis, central superior nucleus, pontine reticular formation, lateral geniculate nucleus, paracentral nucleus, central medial nucleus, lateral hypothalamus, basal nucleus of the amygdala, and basal nucleus of Meynert/substantia innominata; and sent efferents to the pons, superior colliculus, reticular nucleus, caudate, and putamen. Projections from DL/MT(C) to the nucleus of the optic tract were also observed in squirrel and owl monkeys. Similarities in the subcortical connections of the dorsolateral region, especially those with the pulvinar, provide further support for the conclusion that the DL regions are homologous in the three primate groups.