Projections of the dorsal lateral geniculate and lateral posterior nuclei to visual cortex in the rabbit.

The origin and terminations of thalamic inputs to the striate cortex and the occipital cortex of the rabbit were studied using both anterograde autoradiographic techniques and retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP). After injections of [3H]-leucine into the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (DLGN) the transport of radiolabeled material was demonstrated in separate loci in both the striate and the occipital cortex. In both these cortical areas, the principal site of geniculocortical termination was in lamina IV with some diminished input spreading into laminae II-III and a light termination in layer I overlying the lamina IV termination. Layer VI of striate cortex received a substantial projection from DLGN while infragranular laminae of occipital cortex received a similar although lighter and more diffuse projection. The lateral posterior nucleus (LPN) was similarly demonstrated to project to both striate and occipital cortices, the projection terminating principally in lamina IV of occipital cortex, lamina V of striate cortex, and layer I over a large, continuous area of the posterior pole of the cortex. Moreover, a projection from LPN to the retrosplenial cortex medial to the striate area was consistently seen. The autoradiographic demonstration of a projection from DLGN and LPN to both striate cortex and occipital cortex was corroborated by the retrograde studies. Following the injection of HRP into either the striate or occipital cortex, columns of retrogradely filled somata were identified in both the DLGN and LPN. The location of the column of labeled neurons within each nucleus varied predictably with the location of the injection in either the striate or the occipital cortex.