Artículo de revista
Dorsal prefrontal and premotor cortex of the ferret as defned by distinctive patterns of thalamo‑cortical projections
Fecha
2020Registro en:
Brain Structure and Function 225 (2020):1643–1667
10.1007/s00429-020-02086-7
Autor
Radtke‑Schuller, Susanne
Town, Stephen M.
Yin, Pingbo
Elgueda González, Diego
Schuller, Gerd
Bizley, Jennifer K.
Shamma, Shihab A.
Fritz, Jonathan B.
Institución
Resumen
Recent studies of the neurobiology of the dorsal frontal cortex (FC) of the ferret have illuminated its key role in the attention network, top-down cognitive control of sensory processing, and goal directed behavior. To elucidate the neuroanatomical regions of the dorsal FC, and delineate the boundary between premotor cortex (PMC) and dorsal prefrontal cortex (dPFC), we placed retrograde tracers in adult ferret dorsal FC anterior to primary motor cortex and analyzed thalamo-cortical connectivity. Cyto- and myeloarchitectural differences across dorsal FC and the distinctive projection patterns from thalamic nuclei, especially from the subnuclei of the medial dorsal (MD) nucleus and the ventral thalamic nuclear group, make it possible to clearly differentiate three separate dorsal FC fields anterior to primary motor cortex: polar dPFC (dPFCpol), dPFC, and PMC. Based on the thalamic connectivity, there is a striking similarity of the ferret's dorsal FC fields with other species. This possible homology opens up new questions for future comparative neuroanatomical and functional studies.