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Neurochemical subdivisions of the inferior pulvinar in macaque monkeys
Author(s) -
Gutierrez C.,
Yaun A.,
Cusick C. G.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.903630404
Subject(s) - macaque , calbindin , cytoarchitecture , biology , anatomy , neurochemical , neuroscience , neuropil , staining , immunohistochemistry , central nervous system , immunology , genetics
The architecture of the pulvinar of rhesus monkeys was investigated by acetylcholinester ase (AChE) histochemistry, and by immunocytochemiatry for calbindin‐D 28k and the SMI‐32 antibody. The presence of four inferior subdivisions, comparable to those found in architectonic connectional studies in squirrel monkeys (C. G. Cusick, J Scripter, J. G. Darensbourg, and J. T. Weber, 1993, J. Comp. Neurol. 336:1–30), provided a basis for a proposed revised terminology for visual sectors of the macaque pulvinar. In the present study, the inferior pulvinar (PI) was identified as a neurochemically distinct region that included the traditional cytoarchitectonic nucleus PI and adjacent portions of the lateral and medial pulvmar nuclei, PL and PM. In calbindin‐D 28k stains, the lateral. subdivision of the inferior pulvinar (PI L ) had less intense neuropil staining than the adjacent central division, PI c . The PI L was characterized by large, intensely immunopositive neurons seldom found within Pl c . PI L occupied the traditional PL and PI and exhibited a shell zone, PI L‐S , restricted to PL. The medial division of the inferior pulvinar (PI M ) was in a location previously shown to be strongly connected with the middle temporal visual area (MT) in macaques. PI M was found in the medial one‐half of the traditional PI and extended into adjacent portions of the traditional PM and PL. PI M was distinguished by less intense staining for calbindin and many cells stained with the SMI‐32 antibody for neurofilament protein. In AChE stains, PI L was moderately dark, Pl c appeared lighter, and PI M was characterized by small, intensely stained patches. The small posterior division (PI P ) stained darkly for calbindin, lightly for AChE, and was unstained with the SMI‐32 antibody. Thus, neurochemical, and perhaps connectional, subdivisions exist within PI, the region of the pulvinar that relays information to striate, “lower order” extrastriate, and inferotemporal visual cortex. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.