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Updated: Aug 19, 2025

Measurement & Analysis of the Temporal Discrimination Threshold Applied to Cervical Dystonia
Published on: January 27, 2018
Posteromedial thalamic nucleus activity significantly contributes to perceptual discrimination
Jia Qi1, Changquan Ye1, Shovan Naskar1
1Unit on Functional Neural Circuits, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America.
Abstract:
Higher-order sensory thalamic nuclei are densely connected with multiple cortical and subcortical areas, yet the role of these nuclei remains elusive. The posteromedial thalamic nucleus (POm), the higher-order thalamic nucleus in the rodent somatosensory system, is an anatomical hub broadly connected with multiple sensory and motor brain areas yet weakly responds to passive sensory stimulation and whisker movements. To understand the role of POm in sensory perception, we developed a self-initiated, two-alternative forced-choice task in freely moving mice during active sensing. Using optogenetic and chemogenetic manipulation, we show that POm plays a significant role in sensory perception and the projection from the primary somatosensory cortex to POm is critical for the contribution of POm in sensory perception during active sensing.
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