The functional anatomy of middle-latency auditory evoked potentials: thalamocortical connections.

1. An 8 x 8-channel microelectrode array was used to map epicortical field potentials from a 4.375 x 4.375-mm2 area in the right parietotemporal neocortex of four rats. Potentials were evoked with bilaterally presented click stimuli and with electrical stimulation of the ventral and dorsal divisions of the medial geniculate body. 2. Epicortical responses to click stimuli replicated earlier findings. The responses consisted of a positive-negative biphasic waveform (P1a and N1) in the region of primary auditory cortex (area 41) and a positive monophasic waveform (P1b) in the region of secondary auditory cortex (area 36). Two potential patterns, one at the latency of the N1 and the other at the latency of the P1b, were used to represent activation of cells within areas 41 and 36. A linear combination of these patterns was sufficient to explain from 90 to 94% of the variance of the evoked potential complex at all latencies. 3. In the same animals, epicortical responses to electrical stimulation of the ventral and dorsal divisions of the medial geniculate body were also localized to areas 41 and 36, respectively. A linear combination of potential patterns from these separate stimulation conditions was sufficient to explain from 80 to 93% of the variance of the original click-evoked potential complex at all latencies. 4. These data provide functional evidence for anatomically defined topographical thalamocortical projections to primary and secondary auditory cortex. They suggest that short-latency cortical evoked potentials (10-60 ms poststimulus) are dominated by parallel thalamocortical activation of areas 41 and 36.