Cited by 194Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesMemory and Neural MechanismsNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Pathways for emotions and attention converge on the thalamic reticular nucleus in primates

Open access
Zikopoulos, Basilis, Barbas, Helen·2012·The Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

How do emotional events readily capture our attention? To address this question we used neural tracers to label pathways linking areas involved in emotional and attentional processes in the primate brain (Macaca mulatta). We report that a novel pathway from the amygdala, the brain's emotional center, targets the inhibitory thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), a key node in the brain's attentional network. The amygdalar pathway formed unusual synapses close to cell bodies of TRN neurons and had more large and efficient terminals than pathways from the orbitofrontal cortex and the thalamic mediodorsal nucleus, which similarly innervated extensive TRN sites. The robust amygdalar pathway provides a mechanism for rapid shifting of attention to emotional stimuli. Acting synergistically, pathways from the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex provide a circuit for purposeful assessment of emotional stimuli. The different pathways to TRN suggest distinct mechanisms of attention to external and internal stimuli that may be differentially disrupted in anxiety and mood disorders and may be selectively targeted for therapeutic interventions.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1523/jneurosci.4793-11.2012

Cites

99 of 99 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

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?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. De Olmos JS 1990 Amygdala The Human Nervous System Paxinos G 583 710 San Diego Academic Press,Inc.
  2. Jones EG 2007 The Thalamus New York Cambridge University Press

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Zikopoulos, B., & Barbas, H.
Affiliations
Boston University (US)
Venue
The Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2012-04-11
Volume
32
Issue
15
Pages
5338-5350
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W2019751136
Cited by
193
References
98
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 7
FWCI
7.69
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH057414)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS024760)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
Keywords
thalamic reticular nucleus, amygdala, attention, emotional attention, orbitofrontal cortex, mediodorsal thalamus, primate brain, synaptic terminals, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, emotional stimuli
MeSH terms
Amygdala, Animals, Attention, Emotions, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Immunohistochemistry, Functional Laterality, Macaca mulatta, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Microscopy, Electron, Neural Pathways, Thalamic Nuclei, Presynaptic Terminals, Microscopy, Confocal, Mediodorsal Thalamic Nucleus

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