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Rhythmic interactions between the mediodorsal thalamus and prefrontal cortex precede human visual perception
Benjamin J Griffiths1, Tino Zaehle2, Stefan Repplinger2,3
1Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
Nature Communications
|June 29, 2022
Summary
The mediodorsal thalamus and prefrontal cortex work together to predict visual perception. Thalamocortical interactions, not just cortical activity, are key to cognitive performance.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- The thalamus plays a critical role in cognition, particularly higher-order functions.
- Understanding thalamic and thalamocortical contributions to human cognition is limited due to recording challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of the mediodorsal thalamus and its interactions with the prefrontal cortex in human visual perception.
- To elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying perceptual performance by examining thalamocortical activity.
Main Methods:
- Simultaneous intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) from the thalamus and whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) were recorded in six patients.
- MEG data were also collected from twelve healthy controls during a visual detection task.
Main Results:
- Low-frequency activity phase in both the mediodorsal thalamus and prefrontal cortex predicted perceptual performance.
- Mediodorsal thalamic activity was found to mediate prefrontal contributions to perceptual performance.
Conclusions:
- Thalamocortical interactions, rather than solely cortical activity, predict perceptual performance.
- This study underscores the importance of considering the thalamus in models of human cognition.
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