Summary
The nucleus ventralis lateralis (VL) and ventralis anterior (VA) thalami have been studied with the electron microscope following lesions of the cerebral cortex and of the nucleus entopeduncularis which represents the homologue of the medial pallidal segment in primates.
It has been confirmed that VL receives a substantial number of afferents from the motor cortex, while cortical fibers to VA originate mainly rostral to the precruciate gyrus. Corticofugal fibers terminate in VL/VA as type SR boutons (Rinvik and Grofová, 1974a) and establish synapses with relay cell dendrites and with vesicle-containing dendrites.
Four to five days following large lesions of the entopeduncular nucleus an electron-lucent form of degeneration occurs in one type of boutons in VL. These boutons are greatly swollen and vesicle-depleted, and contain altered mitochondria, an increased number of glycogen particles, irregular membrane structures and vacuoles. Some of the electron-lucent boutons progress into electron-dense forms at later survival times. Boutons showing these degenerative changes establish symmetrical synapses with relay cell dendrites and/or cell bodies. They do not synapse upon vesicle-containing dendrites and they are never engaged in the VL glomeruli. It is concluded that they belong to the type F1 boutons (Rinvik and Grofová, 1974a).
Similar initial electron-lucent changes are seen in boutons in the nucleus centrum medianum (CM) ipsilateral to the entopeduncular lesions. No evidence was found for a projection from the entopeduncular nucleus to VA.
The findings are discussed with regard to relevant morphological and physiological data in the literature. Particular attention is paid to the interaction at the cellular level in VL between afferents from the intracerebellar nuclei, motor cortex and globus pallidus.
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Grofová, I., Rinvik, E. Cortical and pallidal projections to the nucleus ventralis lateralis thalami. Anat Embryol 146, 113–132 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00315589
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00315589