The Pulvinar of the Cat: Structural-Functional Organization and Role in Cognitive Processes

摘要

This review addresses current concepts of the structure and function of posterior lateral nucleus/thalamic pulvinar complex (LP-Pul) in the cat. The LP-Pul is a subcortical structure and is part of the visual analyzer. During phylogeny, this complex appeared simultaneously with the lateral geniculate body (LGB) and visual cortex, increased in complexity, and in humans occupies about one third of the thalamus. The LP-Pul is one of the associative nuclei of the thalamus and is an anatomically and functionally complex structure. The LP- Pul complex has reciprocal connections with numerous cortical areas and may thus take part in controlling the flow of visual information to the cerebral cortex, exerting modulating influences on cortical processes. The function of this complex, however, remains incompletely studied. Existing data suggest that the LP-Pul is involved in cognitive processes such as attention and orientation to visual stimuli, in the visual control of behavior, and the spatial encoding of visual stimuli, which is required for extracting individual features from images and their synthesis into an integral whole, and, perhaps, in supporting short-term memory for analysis of visual stimuli.