Cutaneous receptive field organization in the ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus in the common marmoset

Abstract

The organization of cutaneous receptive fields in the ventroposterior (VP) thalamus of the common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) was determined from single-unit recordings, and these data were correlated with the cytochrome oxidase (CO) histochemistry of the thalamus in the same animals. Under continuously maintained ketamine anesthesia, the receptive fields of a total of 192 single units were recorded from the right VP thalamus using 2 MΩ glass microelectrodes. After the receptive fields were mapped, the brains were reacted for CO histochemistry on 50-μM coronal frozen sections through the entire VP thalamus. The majority of units were localized to the CO- reactive regions that define the m..