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A transthalamic pathway crucial for perception.

Christina Mo1,2, Claire McKinnon3, S Murray Sherman4

  • 1The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. christina.mo@florey.edu.au.

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|July 26, 2024
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Transthalamic pathways, crucial for sensory processing, transmit task-relevant information for perception. Inhibiting these pathways impaired texture discrimination in mice, revealing their underappreciated role in decision-making.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Processing
  • Perceptual Decision-Making

Background:

  • Perception relies on cortical processing and inter-area communication.
  • Transthalamic (cortico-thalamo-cortical) pathways parallel direct corticocortical pathways but are understudied.
  • The role of transthalamic pathways in sensory processing remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of transthalamic pathways in sensory processing and perceptual decision-making.
  • To determine if transthalamic pathways propagate task-relevant information for sensory decisions.
  • To challenge the corticocentric view of perception by examining transthalamic pathway function.

Main Methods:

  • Optogenetic inhibition of transthalamic pathways in the higher order somatosensory thalamus of mice.
  • Mice performed a texture-based discrimination task.
  • Two-photon calcium imaging monitored cellular activity in the primary and secondary somatosensory cortex.

Main Results:

  • Inhibition of transthalamic pathways severely impaired texture discrimination performance.
  • Direct corticocortical projections remained intact, suggesting a crucial role for the transthalamic route.
  • Cellular responsiveness to texture stimulation was unaffected, but texture selectivity was disrupted, particularly in secondary cortex.
  • This disruption in selectivity was more pronounced in secondary cortex, indicating a feedforward influence.

Conclusions:

  • Transthalamic pathways are essential for propagating task-relevant information to higher order cortex for perceptual decisions.
  • These pathways are underappreciated hierarchical routes critical for sensory perception.
  • The findings challenge a purely corticocentric model of perception, highlighting the importance of transthalamic communication.