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Neuroanatomy

A new pathway to pathology?

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 6, page 665 (2005)Cite this article

Despite the fact that dopamine was detected in the thalamus of primates more than 20 years ago, the idea that this structure receives a significant dopamine innervation has not been acknowledged, perhaps because the rodent thalamus appears to receive only scant dopaminergic inputs.

Sánchez-González and colleagues looked for dopaminergic axons in the thalamic nuclei of adult humans and macaque monkeys using antibodies against tyrosine hydroxylase, dopamine and the dopamine transporter, DAT. They found that dopaminergic axons profusely target the thalamus, and that this innervation is particularly prominent in specific association, limbic and motor thalamic nuclei. Interestingly, the DAT content of dopaminergic axons varies across the thalamus, which suggests that dopaminergic signalling is more spatially and temporally restricted in some thalamic regions than in others.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Sánchez-González, M. A. et al. The primate thalamus is a key target for brain dopamine. J. Neurosci. 25, 6076–6083 (2005)

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  1. Rebecca Craven
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Craven, R. A new pathway to pathology?. Nat Rev Neurosci 6, 665 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1753

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