Integration of distinct cortical inputs to primary and higher order inhibitory cells of the thalamus.

The neocortex controls its own sensory input in part through top-down inhibitory mechanisms. Descending corticothalamic projections drive GABAergic neurons of the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), which govern thalamocortical cell activity via inhibition. Neurons in sensory TRN are organized into primary and higher order (HO) subpopulations, with separate intrathalamic connections and distinct genetic and functional properties.

Publisher Correction: Two dynamically distinct circuits drive inhibition in the sensory thalamus.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Two dynamically distinct circuits drive inhibition in the sensory thalamus.

Most sensory information destined for the neocortex is relayed through the thalamus, where considerable transformation occurs. One means of transformation involves interactions between excitatory thalamocortical neurons that carry data to the cortex and inhibitory neurons of the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) that regulate the flow of those data. Although the importance of the TRN has long been recognised, understanding of its cell types, their organization and their functional properties has lagged behind that of the thalamocortical systems they control.