Cognitive Science Center Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Front Neuroanat. 2012 May 10;6:14. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2012.00014. eCollection 2012.
The prevailing academic opinion holds that the subthalamic nucleus (STN) consists of three parts, each anatomically distinct and selectively associated with cognitive, emotional, or motor functioning. We independently tested this assumption by summarizing the results from 33 studies on STN subdivisions in human and nonhuman primates. The studies were conducted from 1925 to 2010 and feature three different techniques: electrical lesions, anterograde and retrograde tracers, and classical cytoarchitectonics. Our results reveal scant evidence in support of a tripartite STN. Instead, our results show that the variability across studies is surprisingly large, both in the number of subdivisions and in their anatomical localization. We conclude that the number of subdivisions in the STN remains uncertain, and that academic consensus in support of a tripartite STN is presently unwarranted.
主流学术观点认为，底丘脑核（STN）由三个部分组成，每个部分在解剖学上都不同，分别与认知、情感或运动功能相关。我们通过总结人类和非人类灵长类动物 STN 细分的 33 项研究的结果，独立测试了这一假设。这些研究从 1925 年到 2010 年进行，采用了三种不同的技术：电损伤、顺行和逆行示踪剂以及经典的细胞构筑学。我们的结果几乎没有证据支持 STN 的三分体结构。相反，我们的结果表明，研究之间的变异性非常大，无论是在细分的数量还是在它们的解剖定位上。我们的结论是，STN 的细分数量仍然不确定，目前学术上支持 STN 三分体的共识是没有根据的。
