QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, January 7, 2004, 24(1):248-256; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4122-03.2004

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (26) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Graziano, A. Articles by Jones, E. G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Graziano, A. Articles by Jones, E. G.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Widespread Thalamic Terminations of Fibers Arising in the Superficial Medullary Dorsal Horn of Monkeys and Their Relation to Calbindin Immunoreactivity

Alessandro Graziano and Edward G. Jones

Center for Neuroscience, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616

The relay of pain fibers from the spinal and medullary dorsal horn in the thalamus has become a controversial issue. This study analyzed the relationship of fibers arising in lamina I to nuclei in and around the caudal pole of the ventral posterior nuclear complex and especially to a zone of calbindin-dense immunoreactivity (VMpo) identified by some authors as the sole thalamic relay for these fibers. We show that the densest zone of calbindin immunoreactivity is part of a more extensive, calbindin-immunoreactive region that lies well within the medial tip of the ventral posterior medial nucleus (VPM), as delineated by other staining methods, and prove that the use of different anti-calbindin antibodies cannot account for differences in interpretations of the organization of the posterior thalamic region. By combining immunocytochemical staining with anterograde tracing from injections involving lamina I, we demonstrate widespread fiber terminations that are not restricted to the calbindin-rich medial tip of VPM and show that the lamina I arising fibers are not themselves calbindin immunoreactive. This study disproves the existence of VMpo as an independent thalamic pain nucleus or as a specific relay in the ascending pain system.

Key words: calbindin; VMpo; spinothalamic; pain; thalamus; trigeminal

---

Received Sep 6, 2003; revised October 20, 2003; accepted October 27, 2003.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. Kobayashi, J. Winberry, C. C. Liu, R. D. Treede, and F. A. Lenz A Painful Cutaneous Laser Stimulus Evokes Responses From Single Neurons in the Human Thalamic Principal Somatic Sensory Nucleus Ventral Caudal (Vc) J Neurophysiol, May 1, 2009; 101(5): 2210 - 2217. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Davidson, X. Zhang, S. G. Khasabov, D. A. Simone, and G. J. Giesler Jr. Termination Zones of Functionally Characterized Spinothalamic Tract Neurons Within the Primate Posterior Thalamus J Neurophysiol, October 1, 2008; 100(4): 2026 - 2037. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. H. Kim, J. D. Greenspan, R. C. Coghill, S. Ohara, and F. A. Lenz Lesions Limited to the Human Thalamic Principal Somatosensory Nucleus (Ventral Caudal) Are Associated with Loss of Cold Sensations and Central Pain J. Neurosci., May 2, 2007; 27(18): 4995 - 5004. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				X. Zhang, S. Davidson, and G. J. Giesler Jr Thermally identified subgroups of marginal zone neurons project to distinct regions of the ventral posterior lateral nucleus in rats. J. Neurosci., May 10, 2006; 26(19): 5215 - 5223. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. A. Bagley, S. Ohara, H. C. Lawson, and F. A. Lenz Psychophysics of CNS Pain-Related Activity: Binary and Analog Channels and Memory Encoding Neuroscientist, February 1, 2006; 12(1): 29 - 42. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Patel, S. Ohara, P. M. Dougherty, R. H. Gracely, and F. A. Lenz Psychophysical Elements of Place and Modality Specificity in the Thalamic Somatic Sensory Nucleus (Ventral Caudal, Vc) of Awake Humans J Neurophysiol, February 1, 2006; 95(2): 646 - 659. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J.-I. Lee, S. Ohara, P. M. Dougherty, and F. A. Lenz Pain and Temperature Encoding in the Human Thalamic Somatic Sensory Nucleus (Ventral caudal): Inhibition-Related Bursting Evoked by Somatic Stimuli J Neurophysiol, September 1, 2005; 94(3): 1676 - 1687. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				X. Zhang and G. J. Giesler Jr Response Characterstics of Spinothalamic Tract Neurons That Project to the Posterior Thalamus in Rats J Neurophysiol, May 1, 2005; 93(5): 2552 - 2564. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help