# Neocortical Control of the Thalamus

> **NIH NIH R01** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $647,832

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
This project will investigate how the neocortex controls sensory processing in the thalamus. The neocortex and
thalamus together constitute the majority of the mammalian brain and are crucial for sensation, motor control,
and cognitive function. Virtually all sensory information enters the neocortex by way of the thalamus. The
neocortex also provides massive top-down input to the thalamus. “Corticothalamic” (CT) projections outnumber
ascending “thalamocortical” projections 10:1. This suggests that the cortex has a strong influence on thalamic
activity and, thereby, on its own sensory input. Indeed, altered thalamic-cortical communication has been
associated with disorders such as epilepsy and schizophrenia. Despite its obvious importance, a thorough
understanding of CT function has been elusive. It is generally assumed that the cortex influences thalamic
throughput by modulating the excitability of thalamic relay cells. However, in previous studies the scale and
even the sign of modulation have varied. The complexity of CT circuits has long been an impediment to
understanding them, but powerful genetic and optical tools can now be utilized to drive major advances.
The central goal of our proposal is to determine how top-down projections from the neocortex influence
thalamic sensory processing at the level of cellular, synaptic, and circuit mechanisms. We address this goal in
three aims by utilizing the widely studied and technically tractable somatosensory system of the mouse. Aim 1
will focus on the extensive layer 6 CT system. In awake animals performing a sensory detection task, we will
test our hypothesis that the TC system bidirectionally controls thalamic sensory processing, and that the sign
of control is dynamically determined by layer 6 cell spike rates, short-term synaptic plasticity, and behavioral
state. Aim 2 will focus on the layer 5 CT system, which is structurally distinct. Layer 5 CT projections, unlike
those of layer 6, bypass the inhibitory thalamic reticular nucleus and the primary thalamic relay nuclei and
make strong driver-type synapses in higher-order thalamic nuclei. Using specific Cre-expressing mouse lines
and optogenetics, we will test the prediction that the dynamic balance of thalamic excitation and inhibition
caused by layer 5 CT circuitry is dramatically different from that of layer 6. We will also characterize how these
two CT circuits interact to produce integrated effects. Aim 3 will examine how the CT cells are themselves
controlled, focusing on effects of diverse thalamic inputs. We, and others, have shown that neurons in layers 5
and 6 are powerfully innervated by thalamus, and that distinct thalamic nuclei have unique cortical projections.
Here we will test the hypothesis that feed-forward inputs from first-order and second-order thalamic nuclei
exert powerful but complementary control over CT cells of layers 5 and 6.
Our project will provide much-needed insight about how CT systems ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10199059
- **Project number:** 5R01NS100016-05
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Barry W Connors
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $647,832
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10199059

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10199059, Neocortical Control of the Thalamus (5R01NS100016-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10199059. Licensed CC0.

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