Thalamic Neuromodulation and Its Implications for Executive Networks
Thalamic neuromodulation and its implications for executive networks The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. Citation Varela, Carmen. “Thalamic Neuromodulation and Its Implications for Executive Networks.” Front. Neural Circuits 8 (June 24, 2014). As Published http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2014.00069 Publisher Frontiers Research Foundation Version Final published version Citable link http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/89204 Terms of Use Creative Commons Attribution Detailed Terms http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ REVIEW ARTICLE published: 24 June 2014 doi: 10.3389/fncir.2014.00069 Thalamic neuromodulation and its implications for executive networks Carmen Varela* Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA Edited by: The thalamus is a key structure that controls the routing of information in the brain. Guillermo Gonzalez-Burgos, Understanding modulation at the thalamic level is critical to understanding the flow of University of Pittsburgh, USA information to brain regions involved in cognitive functions, such as the neocortex, the Reviewed by: hippocampus, and the basal ganglia. Modulators contribute the majority of synapses Robert P.Vertes, Florida Atlantic University, USA that thalamic cells receive, and the highest fraction of modulator synapses is found in Randy M. Bruno, Columbia University, thalamic nuclei interconnected with higher order cortical regions. In addition, disruption USA of modulators often translates into disabling disorders of executive behavior. However, *Correspondence: modulation in thalamic nuclei such as the midline and intralaminar groups, which are Carmen Varela, Picower Institute for interconnected with forebrain executive regions, has received little attention compared Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Building 46, to sensory nuclei.
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