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A thalamic nucleus specific for pain and temperature sensation
A D Craig1, M C Bushnell, E T Zhang
1Division of Neurobiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona 85013.
Nature
|December 22, 1994
Summary
Researchers identified a specific thalamic nucleus in monkeys and humans responsible for pain and temperature sensation. This discovery confirms a long-standing hypothesis about the posterolateral thalamus
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sensory Physiology
- Anatomy
Background:
- A posterolateral thalamic nucleus for pain and temperature was hypothesized in 1911.
- Clinical observations linked thalamic pain syndrome to analgesia and thermanaesthesia.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and characterize a distinct thalamic nucleus relaying pain and temperature sensation.
- To confirm the existence and location of this nucleus in both macaque monkeys and humans.
Main Methods:
- Anterograde tracing and single-unit recordings in macaque monkeys.
- Immunohistochemical staining for calbindin in macaque and human thalamus.
- Cytoarchitectural comparison between macaque and human thalamic nuclei.
Main Results:
- A distinct posterior thalamic nucleus in monkeys receives topographic input from spinothalamic lamina I neurons.
- Neurons within this nucleus are predominantly nociceptive- or thermoreceptive-specific.
- An analogous nucleus with a similar calbindin-positive fiber plexus was identified in the human thalamus.
Conclusions:
- A specific thalamic nucleus for pain and temperature sensation exists in both monkeys and humans.
- This nucleus is cytoarchitecturally homologous and functionally consistent with clinical findings.
- The findings validate the existence of a dedicated sensory relay for pain and temperature in the thalamus.