CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 228Visual perception and processing mechanismsAdvanced MRI Techniques and ApplicationsAdvanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications

Functional Imaging of the Human Lateral Geniculate Nucleus and Pulvinar

Kastner, Sabine, O'Connor, Daniel H., Fukui, Miki M., Fehd, Hilda M., Herwig, Uwe, Pinsk, Mark A.·2004·Journal of Neurophysiology
DOI 10.1152/jn.00553.2003
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

In the human brain, little is known about the functional anatomy and response properties of subcortical nuclei containing visual maps such as the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and the pulvinar. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3 tesla (T), collective responses of neural populations in the LGN were measured as a function of stimulus contrast and flicker reversal rate and compared with those obtained in visual cortex. Flickering checkerboard stimuli presented in alternation to the right and left hemifields reliably activated the LGN. The peak of the LGN activation was found to be on average within ±2 mm of the anatomical location of the LGN, as identified on high-resolution structural images. In all visual areas except the middle temporal (MT), fMRI responses increased monotonically with stimulus contrast. In the LGN, the dynamic response range of the contrast function was larger and contrast gain was lower than in the cortex. Contrast sensitivity was lowest in the LGN and V1 and increased gradually in extrastriate cortex. In area MT, responses were saturated at 4% contrast. Response modulation by changes in flicker rate was similar in the LGN and V1 and occurred mainly in the frequency range between 0.5 and 7.5 Hz; in contrast, in extrastriate areas V4, V3A, and MT, responses were modulated mainly in the frequency range between 7.5 and 20 Hz. In the human pulvinar, no activations were obtained with the experimental designs used to probe response properties of the LGN. However, regions in the mediodorsal right and left pulvinar were found to be consistently activated by bilaterally presented flickering checkerboard stimuli, when subjects attended to the stimuli. Taken together, our results demonstrate that fMRI at 3 T can be used effectively to study thalamocortical circuits in the human brain.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1152/jn.00553.2003

Cites

77 of 77 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Peak activations in V1 and secondary visual areas are stimulation dependent and occur at distinct temporal frequencies (4 or 8 Hz in V1, and 20 or 40 Hz in secondary visual areas for chromatic or luminance flickering, respectively).

    “Previous literature reported that the peak activations in V1 and secondary visual areas are stimulation dependent and occur at distinct temporal frequencies (4 or 8 Hz in V1, and 20 or 40 Hz in secondary visual areas for chromatic or luminance flickering, respectively) (Chai et al., 2019; Fox et al., 1986; Kastner et al., 2004; Kwong et al., 1992; Singh et al., 2000).”

    From Perception is associated with the brain’s metabolic response to sensory stimulation (2022) · cites this paper as Kastner et al., 2004

  • Human imaging studies report pulvinar activation consistent with filtering of distractors, such that only information pertaining to the attended target can be decoded from patterns of activity.

    “Human imaging studies report pulvinar activation that is consistent with the filtering of distractors [50–52], such that only information pertaining to the attended target can be decoded from patterns of activity [53].”

    From Cerebral hierarchies: predictive processing, precision and the pulvinar (2015) · cites this paper as [51]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Kastner, S., O'Connor, D. H., Fukui, M. M., Fehd, H. M., Herwig, U., & Pinsk, M. A.
Affiliations
  • Department of Psychology, Center for the Study of Brain, Mind, and Behavior, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544
  • Princeton University (US)
ORCID
Herwig, Uwe
Venue
Journal of Neurophysiology
Publisher
American Physiological Society
Published
2004-01
Volume
91
Issue
1
Pages
438-448
ISSN
  • 0022-3077 (ISSN-L)
  • 1522-1598
DOI
10.1152/jn.00553.2003
OpenAlex
W1976689920
Cited by
228
References
77
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 14
FWCI
5.71
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Neurophysiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R01-MH64043, P50 MH62196, P50MH062196, R01MH064043)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
Keywords
lateral geniculate nucleus, pulvinar, thalamocortical circuits, visual maps, contrast sensitivity, flicker response, visual cortex, middle temporal area, extrastriate cortex, visual attention, human brain
MeSH terms
Adult, Analysis of Variance, Attention, Brain Mapping, Female, Fixation, Ocular, Flicker Fusion, Geniculate Bodies, Humans, Functional Laterality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Motion Perception, Photic Stimulation, Reaction Time, Visual Cortex, Contrast Sensitivity, Pulvinar

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review