Thalamostriatal projections from the ventral anterior nucleus in the dog

Thalamostriatal projections from the ventral anterior nucleus (VA) were mapped by using autoradiographic and horseradish peroxidase techniques in the dog. Injections of tritiated leucine and proline into the lateral, central, and medial parts of VA resulted in anterograde label over the dorsolateral, midlateral, and dorsal parts of the head of the caudate nucleus, respectively. The dorsolateral and midlateral parts of the caudate contained the heaviest label. No silver grains were located over the medial or ventral parts of the caudate. Light to moderate label was located over the most dorsal part of the putamen. After injections of lectin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) into the dorsolateral or intermediate areas of the head of the caudate, retrogradely labeled cells were present in the lateral and central parts of VA, respectively. In cases with dorsolateral caudate injections, labeled cells formed a narrow dorsoventrally oriented band located in the lateral part of VA whereas in the case with a larger injection into midcaudate, large numbers of labeled neurons were scattered throughout the central area of VA. Retrogradely labeled cells were also found in the rostral part of the ventral lateral nucleus (VL). Injections of WGA-HRP into the medial part of the caudate resulted in only a few labeled cells located in the dorsomedial part of VA. Combining these data with those from other studies mapping neostriatal afferents from the cerebral cortex in the dog, it is apparent that the midlateral part of the caudate receiving input from VA also receives afferents from cortical area 6. Furthermore, the dorsolateral part of the caudate that receives input from the lateral part of VA also receives afferents from cortical area 4. These results indicate that the dorsal and lateral parts of the canine caudate nucleus may constitute important links in the transmission and integration of information related to complex motor activities.