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The Journal of Neuroscience, November 11, 2009, 29(45):14223-14235; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3398-09.2009

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
The Spinothalamic System Targets Motor and Sensory Areas in the Cerebral Cortex of Monkeys

Richard P. Dum,^2,3 David J. Levinthal,^2,3,4 and Peter L. Strick^1,2,3

¹Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs Medical Center, ²Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Systems Neuroscience Institute, and ³Departments of Neurobiology and ⁴Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Peter L. Strick, Systems Neuroscience Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 4074 Biomedical Science Tower-3, 3501 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15261. Email: strickp{at}pitt.edu

Classically, the spinothalamic (ST) system has been viewed as the major pathway for transmitting nociceptive and thermoceptive information to the cerebral cortex. There is a long-standing controversy about the cortical targets of this system. We used anterograde transneuronal transport of the H129 strain of herpes simplex virus type 1 in the Cebus monkey to label the cortical areas that receive ST input. We found that the ST system reaches multiple cortical areas located in the contralateral hemisphere. The major targets are granular insular cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex and several cortical areas in the cingulate sulcus. It is noteworthy that comparable cortical regions in humans consistently display activation when subjects are acutely exposed to painful stimuli. We next combined anterograde transneuronal transport of virus with injections of a conventional tracer into the ventral premotor area (PMv). We used the PMv injection to identify the cingulate motor areas on the medial wall of the hemisphere. This combined approach demonstrated that each of the cingulate motor areas receives ST input. Our meta-analysis of imaging studies indicates that the human equivalents of the three cingulate motor areas also correspond to sites of pain-related activation. The cingulate motor areas in the monkey project directly to the primary motor cortex and to the spinal cord. Thus, the substrate exists for the ST system to have an important influence on the cortical control of movement.

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Received July 15, 2009; revised Sept. 2, 2009; accepted Sept. 28, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Peter L. Strick, Systems Neuroscience Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 4074 Biomedical Science Tower-3, 3501 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15261. Email: strickp{at}pitt.edu

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