Vertes Robert P, Linley Stephanie B, Rojas Amanda K P
Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, United States.
Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, United States.
Front Behav Neurosci. 2022 Aug 23;16:964644. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.964644. eCollection 2022.
The midline and intralaminar nuclei of the thalamus form a major part of the "limbic thalamus;" that is, thalamic structures anatomically and functionally linked with the limbic forebrain. The midline nuclei consist of the paraventricular (PV) and paratenial nuclei, dorsally and the rhomboid and nucleus reuniens (RE), ventrally. The rostral intralaminar nuclei (ILt) consist of the central medial (CM), paracentral (PC) and central lateral (CL) nuclei. We presently concentrate on RE, PV, CM and CL nuclei of the thalamus. The nucleus reuniens receives a diverse array of input from limbic-related sites, and predominantly projects to the hippocampus and to "limbic" cortices. The RE participates in various cognitive functions including spatial working memory, executive functions (attention, behavioral flexibility) and affect/fear behavior. The PV receives significant limbic-related afferents, particularly the hypothalamus, and mainly distributes to "affective" structures of the forebrain including the bed nucleus of stria terminalis, nucleus accumbens and the amygdala. Accordingly, PV serves a critical role in "motivated behaviors" such as arousal, feeding/consummatory behavior and drug addiction. The rostral ILt receives both limbic and sensorimotor-related input and distributes widely over limbic and motor regions of the frontal cortex-and throughout the dorsal striatum. The intralaminar thalamus is critical for maintaining consciousness and directly participates in various sensorimotor functions (visuospatial or reaction time tasks) and cognitive tasks involving striatal-cortical interactions. As discussed herein, while each of the midline and intralaminar nuclei are anatomically and functionally distinct, they collectively serve a vital role in several affective, cognitive and executive behaviors - as major components of a brainstem-diencephalic-thalamocortical circuitry.
丘脑的中线核和板内核构成了“边缘丘脑”的主要部分；也就是说，这些丘脑结构在解剖学和功能上与边缘前脑相连。中线核包括背侧的室旁核（PV）和旁中央核，以及腹侧的菱形核和连合核（RE）。嘴侧板内核（ILt）包括中央内侧核（CM）、中央旁核（PC）和中央外侧核（CL）。我们目前主要关注丘脑的RE、PV、CM和CL核。连合核从与边缘系统相关的部位接收各种各样的输入，并且主要投射到海马体和“边缘”皮质。RE参与各种认知功能，包括空间工作记忆、执行功能（注意力、行为灵活性）以及情感/恐惧行为。PV接收大量与边缘系统相关的传入神经，特别是来自下丘脑的传入神经，并且主要分布到前脑的“情感”结构，包括终纹床核、伏隔核和杏仁核。因此，PV在诸如觉醒、进食/ consummatory行为和药物成瘾等“动机行为”中起着关键作用。嘴侧ILt既接收与边缘系统相关的输入，也接收与感觉运动相关的输入，并广泛分布于额叶皮质的边缘和运动区域以及整个背侧纹状体。板内核对于维持意识至关重要，并直接参与各种感觉运动功能（视觉空间或反应时间任务）以及涉及纹状体 - 皮质相互作用的认知任务。如本文所讨论的，虽然中线核和板内核在解剖学和功能上各不相同，但它们共同在几种情感、认知和执行行为中起着至关重要的作用——作为脑干 - 间脑 - 丘脑皮质回路的主要组成部分。
