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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

High-resolution Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Methods for Human Midbrain
Published on: May 10, 2012
Parafascicular nucleus projection to the extrastriatal basal ganglia in monkeys
Dominique Tandé1, Jean Féger, Etienne C Hirsch
1INSERM U679, Neurology and Experimental Therapeutics, Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris, France.
Abstract:
We have analyzed the parafascicular thalamic projection to extrastriatal structures of the basal ganglia using anterograde and retrograde tracing in monkeys. We identified (1) retrogradely labeled neurons in the parafascicular nucleus projecting to the anteromedial, limbic part of the external and internal pallidum, the substantia nigra and the subthalamic nucleus, (2) labeled terminals scattered in all these structures after anterograde tracer injection into the medial part of the parafascicular nucleus and (3) individual parafascicular terminals that arborized rather poorly in a large portion of each basal ganglia structure. Our study provides evidence that the parafascicular nucleus, and especially its medial part, can relay emotional and motivational information back to all basal ganglia components in primates.
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