Thalamic reticular nucleus in Caiman crocodilus: forebrain connections.

Forebrain connections of the thalamic reticular nucleus associated with the lateral forebrain bundle were analyzed in Caiman crocodilus. Both the compact portion, the dorsal peduncular nucleus, and the diffuse part, the perireticular region, associated with the lateral forebrain bundle, were studied. A small tracer injection into the dorsal peduncular nucleus demonstrated reciprocal connections with a restricted portion of the dorsal thalamus. Tracer placements into this nucleus retrogradely labeled cells in a caudal portion of the ventrolateral area of the telencephalon. These results are compared with similar studies in other amniotes.