Functional Connections of Cortical Areas: A New View from the Thalamus
Abstract
Two leading authorities on thalamocortical connections consider how the neural circuits of the brain relate to our actions and perceptions. In this book, two leading authorities on the thalamus and its relationship to cortex build on their earlier findings to arrive at new ways of thinking about how the brain relates to the world, to cognition, and behavior. Based on foundations established earlier in their book Exploring the Thalamus and Its Role in Cortical Function, the authors consider the implications of these ground rules for thalamic inputs, thalamocortical connections, and cortical outputs. The authors argue that functional and structural analyses of pathways connecting thalamus and cortex point beyond these to lower centers and through them to the body and the world. Each cortical area depends on the messages linking it to body and world. These messages relate to the way we act and think; each cortical area receives thalamic inputs and has outputs to motor centers. Sherman and Guillery go on to discuss such topics as the role of branching axons that carry motor instructions as well as copies of these motor instructions for relay to cortex under the control of the thalamic gate. This gate allows the thalamus to control the passage of information on the basis of which cortex relates to the rest of the nervous system.
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The thalamus might help compare cortical predictions with incoming signals, or gate the precision of ascending sensory data.
“Moreover, the involvement of the thalamus is often interpreted in predictive coding terms: the thalamus might help compare cortical predictions with incoming signals, or gate the precision of ascending sensory data (29) (Figure 2).”
From Predictive coding and neurocomputational psychiatry: a mechanistic framework for understanding mental disorders (2026) · cites this paper as [29]
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“Guillery and Sherman divided thalamic projection neurons into two classes; “first-order” relay and “second-order” relay (Sherman, 2016; Sherman & Guillery, 2013).”
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“This corticocentric view has been challenged in recent years since, besides direct communication between cortical areas through cortico-cortical connections, indirect communication through corticothalamocortical projections can also occur (Casanova 2004; Sherman and Guillery 2013).”
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“…are characterized by having their primary driving inputs coming from layer V pyramidal neurons in the cortex, rather than from peripheral or sensory structures, as is the case for first-order thalamic nuclei (Guillery, 1995; Halassa & Sherman, 2019; Perry et al., 2021; Sherman & Guillery, 2013).”
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“…of the cortex is remarkably similar across cortical areas (Mountcastle, 1978), hinting at a common computational principle, with superficial layers (layers 2-4) receiving and processing sensory information and deeper layers (layer 5) conveying outputs to motor centers (Sherman and Guillery, 2013).”
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“…be categorized based on the source of the information they relay to the cortex: fi rst-order relays receive such input from a subcortical source, whereas higher-order relays receive it from Layer 5 of the cortex (Guillery, 1995; Sherman and Guillery, 2013; Sherman, 2016; Usrey and Sherman, 2021).”
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“9e, f) to relate the widely accepted theory of firing mode-dependent thalamic gating (Llinás and Steriade 2006; Sherman and Guillery 2013) to the response probability.”
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“The anatomical and functional properties of connections between the cortex and the pulvinar have been explored for decades (Sherman & Guillery, 2013).”
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A transthalamic pathway crucial for perceptionPreprint
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“Driver projections are those that deliver stimulus information (Sherman and Guillery, 1998, 2013; Usrey and Sherman, 2021).”
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Self-citationComplementary Organization of Mouse Driver and Modulator Cortico-thalamo-cortical Circuits
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“Theinternalorganizationofthethalamusishighlycomplex.”
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“The triadic circuits (Sherman and Guillery, 2013) have similarities to the Dense Associative Memory network proposed for Hopfield ANNs (Krotov and Hopfield, 2021).”
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“one cortical area to another, in concert with or in addition to direct corticocortical pathways, forming a framework for rhythmic brain activity, including signal and spindle propagation across cortex (Brown et al., 2020; Halassa and Sherman, 2019; Jones, 2001; Sherman and Guillery, 2013; Sherman, 2012).”
BackgroundTime perception impairment following thalamic stroke: A case study
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“Murray Sherman and Guillery (2013) suggested it is better conceptualised as a gate that can be open, shut, or somewhere in between, hence more of a filter than a gate.”
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“The functional roles of corticothalamic and thalamocortical connections depend on whether they are driving or modulating their target neurons (Sherman & Guillery, 2013).”
Tools with general AI and no existential risk
Hole, K. (2023) · AI and Ethics · doi:10.1007/s43681-023-00271-y · Cited by 4 · see citing works
A Reduced-Scale Cortical Network with Izhikevich's Neurons on SpiNNaker
Chiplunkar, C., Gautam, N., Mediratta, I., et al. (2021) · doi:10.1109/ijcnn52387.2021.9534244 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“We are aware that in biology, the retinal spiking information is conveyed to the Layer 4 cells of the visual cortex by the thalamocortical relay cells [1].”
BackgroundInfluentialFisher, A., & Rao, R. P. N. (2023) · PNAS Nexus · doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad337 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“1) is consistent with recent models of the neocortex that emphasize sensory-motor representations across cortical areas (27, 31, 38, 39).”
Oliveira, A. R., Nunes, R. G., Figueiredo, P., et al. (2020) · Brain Topography · doi:10.1007/s10548-020-00784-3 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“3a), for which the main areas of cortical projection are well characterized (Sherman and Guillery 2013).”
BackgroundInfluentialA Sensory-Motor Theory of the Neocortex based on Active Predictive CodingPreprint
Rao, R. P. N. (2022) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2022.12.30.522267 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“However, based on recent evidence pointing to motor outputs from Layer 5 in essentially all cortical areas [4, 13–15, 17], the APC model Finally, the idea that the policy network outputs serve as a prior for selecting actions during planning provides a potential neural implementation of Gibson’s…”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialBíró, L., Buday, Z., Kóta, K., Lőrincz, S., & Acsády, L. (2025) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0539-25.2025 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“L6 input is regarded as a canonical input to all thalamic nuclei (Acsády, 2022) whereas L5 innervates only a selected set of so-called “ higher order ” nuclei (Sherman and Guillery, 2013; Sherman, 2016).”
Modulation and Gating of Transthalamic and Subcortical Pathways through Somatosensory Thalamus
Koster, K. P., & Sherman, S. M. (2026) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0783-25.2026 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationFarishta, R. A., Zouahi, H., & Casanova, C. (2021) · The Journal of Comparative Neurology · doi:10.1002/cne.25239 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Nuclei and tracts in the thalamus of crocodiles
Pritz, M. B. (2024) · The Journal of Comparative Neurology · doi:10.1002/cne.25595 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Otherapproachestosub-dividethedorsalthalamushavebeenexplored(e.g., Jones,1998,2007; Macchi et al., 1983; Roy et al., 2022; Sherman & Guillery, 2006, 2013).”
Boeken, O. J., Cieslik, E. C., Langner, R., & Markett, S. A. (2022) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-2017758/v1 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Attentional cueing effects are reversed during locomotionPreprint
Djebbara, Z., Huynh, D. C., Koselevs, A., Chen, Y., Fich, L. B., & Gramann, K. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.01.07.631651 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Geometry-Constrained Coupling Drives Critical Dynamics Across Neural ManifoldsPreprint
Phogat, R., Behler, A., Sonkusare, S., Pang, J. C. S., Koussis, N. C., Roberts, J. A., DeKraker, J., Dionisio, S. A., Shine, J. M., Fornito, A., et al. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.09.07.674721 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Dynamic Modulation of Beta-Band Oscillations in the LGN and Their Role in Visual Processing
Alitto, H. J., Sanchez, A. N., Alexander, P. C., & Usrey, W. M. (2026) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.1342-25.2026 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Spike Timing and Thalamocortical Interactions
Usrey, W. M., & Sherman, S. M. (2021) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/med/9780197503874.003.0010 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationInformation as Entanglement—A Framework for Artificial General Intelligence
Hafez, W. (2023) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-19907-3_3 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Direct excitatory loop and theta resonance in the anterior cingulate-mediodorsal thalamic circuit
Yoshimoto, A., Morikawa, S., Takeuchi, H., & Ikegaya, Y. (2025) · Communications Biology · doi:10.1038/s42003-025-08431-y · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Actor modeling of the working memory process
Gribkov, A. A., & Zelenskii, A. A. (2026) · Психология и Психотехника · doi:10.7256/2454-0722.2026.1.78662 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Effinger, D. P., Hoffman, J. L., Quadir, S. G., Rollison, C. S., Toedt, D., Sanchez, M. E., High, M. W., Hodge, C. W., & Herman, M. A. (2026) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-026-71481-1 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Though often thought of as a single brain region, the thalamus is comprised of several functionally distinctsubnuclei 27 .”
Mammalian Brains Seen through the Lens of Evolution
Sherman, S. M., & Usrey, W. M. (2026) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0217-26.2026 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationGlutamatergic Drivers and Modulators
Usrey, W. M., & Sherman, S. M. (2021) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/med/9780197503874.003.0005 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Sherman, S. M., & Guillery, R. W.
- ORCID
- Sherman, S. Murray
- Venue
- The MIT Press eBooks
- Publisher
- The MIT Press
- Published
- 2013-08-09
- OpenAlex
- W4251156383
- Cited by
- 137
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 8 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.03
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The MIT Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Keywords
- thalamocortical connections, thalamus, cerebral cortex, thalamic input, motor pathways, neural circuits, perception, cognition, behavior
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