Nagel-Leiby S, Bender D B, Butter C M
Brain Res. 1984 May 23;300(2):295-303. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(84)90839-4.
Monkeys with thermocoagulation or kainic acid lesions of the pulvinar and unoperated control monkeys were tested in two tasks: pattern discrimination retention and color discrimination learning in which the stimuli were located at the response sites or were separated spatially from them (S-R separation). The monkeys with kainic acid pulvinar lesions were mildly impaired in retention of the pattern discrimination, but were unimpaired in the color discrimination tasks with or without the S-R separation. The monkeys with thermocoagulation lesions, like monkeys with superior colliculus lesions in a prior study, were severely impaired in performing one of the color discrimination tasks with S-R separation. These findings suggest that: (a) the inferior pulvinar, unlike the superior colliculus, does not contribute to the performance of discriminations involving S-R separation; and (b) corticotectal projections traversing the pulvinar and destroyed by the thermocoagulation lesions are crucial to the performance of discriminations involving S-R separation. The results of an earlier experiment also suggested that interruption of corticotectal fibers passing through the pulvinar impairs performance in another task sensitive to superior colliculus lesions--spatial localization of light flashes. Thus, corticotectal projections may be crucial for the contribution of the colliculus to performance in a variety of visual tasks.
图案辨别记忆和颜色辨别学习，其中刺激物位于反应位点处或与反应位点在空间上分离（刺激-反应分离）。患有丘脑枕海藻酸损伤的猴子在图案辨别记忆方面有轻度损伤，但在有或没有刺激-反应分离的颜色辨别任务中未受损伤。患有热凝损伤的猴子，就像先前研究中患有上丘损伤的猴子一样，在执行一项有刺激-反应分离的颜色辨别任务时严重受损。这些发现表明：（a）与上丘不同，丘脑枕下部对涉及刺激-反应分离的辨别任务表现没有贡献；（b）穿过丘脑枕并被热凝损伤破坏的皮质-顶盖投射对于涉及刺激-反应分离的辨别任务表现至关重要。早期一项实验的结果还表明，中断穿过丘脑枕的皮质-顶盖纤维会损害对上丘损伤敏感的另一项任务——闪光的空间定位——的表现。因此，皮质-顶盖投射对于上丘在各种视觉任务中的表现贡献可能至关重要。
