Primate thalamic nuclei select abstract rules and shape prefrontal dynamics.

Flexible behavior depends on abstract rules to generalize beyond specific instances, and outcome monitoring to adjust actions. Cortical circuits are posited to read out rules from high-dimensional representations of task-relevant variables in prefrontal cortex (PFC). We instead hypothesized that converging inputs from PFC, directly or via basal ganglia (BG), enable thalamus to select rules.

Thalamic deep brain stimulation paradigm to reduce consciousness: Cortico-striatal dynamics implicated in mechanisms of consciousness.

Anesthetic manipulations provide much-needed causal evidence for neural correlates of consciousness, but non-specific drug effects complicate their interpretation. Evidence suggests that thalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS) can either increase or decrease consciousness, depending on the stimulation target and parameters. The putative role of the central lateral thalamus (CL) in consciousness makes it an ideal DBS target to manipulate circuit-level mechanisms in cortico-striato-thalamic (CST) systems, thereby influencing consciousness and related processes.

Predictive Feedback, Early Sensory Representations, and Fast Responses to Predicted Stimuli Depend on NMDA Receptors.

Learned associations between stimuli allow us to model the world and make predictions, crucial for efficient behavior (e.g., hearing a siren, we expect to see an ambulance and quickly make way).

Consciousness depends on integration between parietal cortex, striatum, and thalamus.

The neural substrates of consciousness remain elusive. Competing theories that attempt to explain consciousness disagree on the contribution of frontal versus posterior cortex and omit subcortical influences. This lack of understanding impedes the ability to monitor consciousness, which can lead to adverse clinical consequences.

Thalamus Modulates Consciousness via Layer-Specific Control of Cortex.

Functional MRI and electrophysiology studies suggest that consciousness depends on large-scale thalamocortical and corticocortical interactions. However, it is unclear how neurons in different cortical layers and circuits contribute. We simultaneously recorded from central lateral thalamus (CL) and across layers of the frontoparietal cortex in awake, sleeping, and anesthetized macaques.