New views of the thalamic reticular nucleus in the adult and the developing brain

The thalamic reticular nucleus plays a crucial role in modifying the patterns of activity that can reach the cerebral cortex from the thalamus. Although the nucleus is generally viewed as a cell group with widespread and nonspecific thalamic and cortical connections, recent evidence has begun to stress the extent to which at least some of the reticular pathways transmit well-defined maps with a clear local sign from the cortex and the thalamus. Further, evidence from the adult structure of the nucleus and ongoing developmental studies suggest that the reticular nucleus plays an important part in organizing the earliest connections between cortex and thalamus and that the developmental sequence may explain the complex connections formed in the adult.