Intracranial recordings were obtained from three patients with intractable chronic pain who underwent analgesic electrical stimulation of the contralateral thalamus. Multilead electrode made it possible to record from several thalamic nuclei. The electrode was targeted into the ventroposterolateral (VPL) nucleus of the thalamus. During separate recording sessions, the following tests were performed: somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) of the median or posterior tibial nerve, event-related cognitive potentials (auditory oddball P3 wave), readiness potential (RP) and contingent negative variation (CNV) using auditory warning (S1) and visual imperative (S2) stimuli. The movement accompanying potential (MAP), which was present in the VPL in all but one of the recordings, behaved as a far-field potential. Recordings obtained from the VPL confirmed its established role as a relay nucleus, processing somatosensory information to the primary somatosensory cortex. The VPL generated the 'thalamic' SEP, which was the only potential regularly recorded in this nucleus. In the recordings from one patient (No. 3), auditory and visual evoked potentials of the CNV protocol, peaking at approximately 300 ms, were obtained from the VPL and appeared to be generated in situ. Neither RP, CNV nor 'oddball' ERPs appeared in the VPL. From the pulvinar, only a visually evoked potential was recorded. Oddball P3, RP, CNV, and middle and long latency auditory and visual potentials (evoked in the CNV paradigm) appeared to be generated 'dorsally' to the VPL, probably in the nucleus posterolateralis (PL). This structure may therefore be involved in both the processing of afferent information and in cognitive operations.