# Thalamocortical interactions

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2020 · $345,625

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 The proposed research will test related hypotheses that thalamus plays a heretofore neglected and
critical role in cortical processing. In particular, many thalamic nuclei, that together comprise the majority of
thalamic volume and that were previously mysterious in function, we now suggest are critically involved in
information flow and functional, dynamic binding between cortical areas via cortico-thalamo-cortical
pathways. We propose to study these pathways using the mouse somatosensory system as the model involving
both in vitro slice and in vivo whole animal preparations. It appears that, in many and perhaps all cases,
cortical areas are connected by both direct and these transthalamic pathways, and we wish to understand why:
What is different in the information passed by each pathway? Why does one pass through thalamus with the
possibility of being blocked there? Is there nonlinear summation in the target cortical area when both pathways
are active, and could this be involved in dynamic linking of areas to subserve various cognitive tasks, such as
attention? To begin developing answers to these questions, we propose to probe basic circuit properties of
these pathways to better understand the role of the transthalamic pathways in higher cognitive functioning.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9914135
- **Project number:** 5R01NS094184-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** S. Murray SHERMAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $345,625
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-05-15 → 2021-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9914135

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9914135, Thalamocortical interactions (5R01NS094184-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9914135. Licensed CC0.

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