Projections from visual areas of the middle suprasylvian sulcus onto the lateral posterior complex and adjacent thalamic nuclei in cat.

The distribution of corticothalamic projections from lateral suprasylvian areas AMLS, PMLS, ALLS, and PLLS was investigated with the autoradiographic method. Areas AMLS and PMLS were both found to project retinotopically upon the medial interlaminar nucleus and the lateral and pulvinar zones of the lateral posterior complex, as well as to the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus, intralaminar nuclei, and thalamic reticular complex. Retinotopic projections to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus were demonstrated from PMLS but not AMLS, and projections to zona incerta were demonstrated from AMLS but not PMLS. Areas PLLS and ALLS were both found to project retinotopically upon the interjacent zone of the lateral posterior complex, as well as to the intermediate and suprageniculate divisions of the posterior nuclear group, the magnocellular division of the medial geniculate complex, the thalamic reticular complex, and central lateral nucleus. Area ALLS was also found to project onto the dorsal division of the medial geniculate complex and lateral division of the posterior nuclear group. Differences between the four cortical areas in the pattern and density of their thalamic projections supports the parcellation of these areas as proposed by Palmer et al. ('78). The projection patterns of areas PMLS, AMLS, PLLS, and ALLS were found to respect the boundaries of the zones of the lateral posterior complex, which had been identified and defined previously (Updyke, '77), and the results thus support the hypothesis that these zones are the functional units of organization of visual traffic between the cat's extrastriate visual areas.