Seminários em Neurociências 2011.1

Segunda-feira 09/05/2011 10:50h Sala 4 – Escola de Ciência e Tecnologia

Cellular and Functional Diversity in Thalamocortical Networks: New Vistas

Dr. Francisco Clascá (Dept. of Anatomy & Graduate Program in Neuroscience School of Medicine, Autónoma de Madrid University)

Thalamocortical (TC) pathways are still mainly understood as the gateway for ascending sensory-motor information into the cortex. However, it is now clear that a great many TC cells are involved in interactions between cortical areas via the thalamus. We will review recent data, including our own, which demonstrate the generalized presence in rodent thalamus of two major TC cell types characterized, among other features, by their axon development, arborization and laminar targeting in the cortex. Such duality may allow inputs from thalamus to access cortical circuits via "bottom-up"-wired axon arbors or via "top-down"-wired axon arbors.