Electron-autoradiographic analysis of projections of somatosensory cortical areas I and II in the posterior ventral nucleus of the thalamus

Differences in the organization of corticofugal fibers arising from somatosensory cortical areas I (S_I) and II (S_II) were detected by electron-microscopic autoradiography in the posterior ventral nucleus (NVP) of the thalamus. The distribution of corticofugal fibers from the corresponding zones of the two somatosensory cortical areas within NVP differs. Endings of both types of fibers form synaptic contacts chiefly with distal dendrites of relay cells of NVP and much less frequently with dendrites of Golgi type II interneurons. No direct convergence of fibers arising from the two somatosensory areas on single cells of NVP was observed.P. K. Anokhin Institute of Normal Physiology, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. M. Chernukh.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 83, No. 5, pp. 604–606, May, 1977.