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Toward an agreement on terminology of nuclear and subnuclear divisions of the motor thalamusThe nomenclature most commonly applied to the motor-related nuclei of the human thalamus differs substantially from that applied to the thalamus of other primates, from which most knowledge of input-output connections is derived. Knowledge of these connections in the human is a prerequisite for stereotactic neurosurgical approaches designed to alleviate movement disorders by the placement of lesions in specific nuclei. Transfer to humans of connectional information derived from experimental studies in nonhuman primates requires agreement about the equivalence of nuclei in the different species, and dialogue between experimentalists and neurosurgeons would be facilitated by the use of a common nomenclature. In this review, the authors compare the different nomenclatures and review the cyto- and chemoarchitecture of the nuclei in the anterolateral aspect of the ventral nuclear mass in humans and monkeys, suggest which nuclei are equivalent, and propose a common terminology. On this basis, it is possible to identify the nuclei of the human motor thalamus that transfer information from the substantia nigra, globus pallidus, cerebellum, and proprioceptive components of the medial lemniscus to prefrontal, premotor, motor, and somatosensory areas of the cerebral cortex. It also becomes possible to suggest the principal functional systems involved in stereotactically guided thalamotomies and the functional basis of the symptoms observed following ischemic lesions in different parts of the human thalamus.
Document ID
20040172990
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Macchi, G.
(Institute of Neurology, Catholic University Rome, Italy)
Jones, E. G.
Bloom, F. E.
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
April 1, 1997
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of neurosurgery
Volume: 86
Issue: 4
ISSN: 0022-3085
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: MH
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Non-NASA Center
Review, Tutorial
Review
NASA Discipline Neuroscience

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