ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL AND ANATOMICAL STUDIES ON THALAMIC MEDIODORSAL NUCLEUS PROJECTIONS ONTO THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX IN THE CAT

Electrical stimulation of the mediodorsal nucleus (MD) of the thalamus elicited field potentials in the gyrus proreus (PRO), frontalis (FR), rectus (RE) and cinguli anterior (CIant) of the ipsilateral prefrontal and adjacent cortical areas in cats. The results of a laminar field potential analysis indicate that the field potentials can be regarded as a combination of deep and superficial thalamocortical responses. By injecting horseradish peroxidase (HRP) into the MD, HRP-labeled terminals were distributed in the prefrontal and adjacent cortical areas where the field potentials were elicited. Densely labeled terminals in cortical layer I were distributed where the superficial thalamocortical responses were prominent, while those in layers III-V were distributed in the areas where the deep thalamocortical responses were prominent.