Established anatomical tract-tracing techniques have been used to examine the connectional anatomy of the non-cortically and cortically projecting medial geniculate in the neurologically primitive marsupial mammal, Monodelphis domestica. / The results suggest three primary conclusions. First, the medial geniculate body of Monodelphis is divisible into two populations of neurons--a rostral population projecting to neocortex and a caudal population projecting to non-cordical nuclei, with very few neurons projecting to both. Second, although both the rostral and caudal medial geniculate receive ascending projections from the inferior colliculus and other brainstem auditory as well as non-auditory nuclei, caudal medial geniculate receives a greater number and greater relative proportion of afferents from brainstem nuclei that have been shown to largely contribute to the non-lemniscal pathway through the medial and dorsal divisions of the medial geniculate in placental mammals. Inversely, rostral medial geniculate receives a greater number and relative proportion of its afferents from brainstem nuclei that have been shown to largely contribute to the lemniscal pathway through the ventral division. Thirdly, although both rostral and caudal medial geniculate receive substantial axonal terminations from descending corticothalamic fibers, rostral medial geniculate receives cortical input in a way usually seen in placental dorsal thalamic sensory nuclei, while caudal medial geniculate receives cortical input in a way usually seen in the medial division of the medial geniculate in placentals; or perhaps even more similar to the neocortical afferents that terminate in brainstem nuclei such as the inferior colliculus. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-05, Section: B, page: 2491. / Major Professor: R. B. Masterton. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77462 |
| Contributors | Frost, Shawn Brian., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 113 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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