Retinal projections to the pulvinar nucleus of the macaque monkey: a re-investigation using autoradiography.

After a monocular injection of [3H]amino acid into the vitreous chamber of the eye, the distribution of retinal terminations in the pulvinar nucleus of the crab-eating monkey and pigtail macaque was studied by autoradiography. Two groups of labeled terminals were found in the bilateral inferior pulvinar nuclei: one small, dense group was located in the most rostral part of the nuclei and the other, composed of a few small clusters of the labeled terminals, was observed over the medial zone of the middle portion. The terminals were slightly predominant in the contralateral nucleus. A small amount of silver grains showing labeled retinofugal fibers was found in the dorsal surface of the thalamus just medial to the stria terminalis contralateral to the injected site, but termination of these fibers could not be traced in this study.