Human high-order thalamic nuclei gate conscious perception through the thalamofrontal loop.
Zepeng Fang, Yuanyuan Dang, An'an Ping, Chenyu Wang, Qianchuan Zhao, Hulin Zhao, Xiaoli Li, Mingsha Zhang
Science (New York, N.Y.) April 4, 2025 DOI: 10.1126/science.adr3675
Summary
Intralaminar and medial thalamic nuclei are crucial for conscious perception, exhibiting earlier and stronger activity than ventral nuclei and the prefrontal cortex (PFC). In a study involving patients with implanted electrodes, simultaneous recordings revealed that transient thalamofrontal neural synchrony was significantly influenced by the θ phase of these nuclei during visual consciousness tasks. This suggests that these specific thalamic regions act as a gateway, facilitating PFC activity when consciousness emerges, highlighting their role in human perception.
Abstract
Human high-order thalamic nuclei activity is known to closely correlate with conscious states. However, it is not clear how those thalamic nuclei and thalamocortical interactions directly contribute to the transient process of human conscious perception. We simultaneously recorded stereoelectroencephalography data from the thalamic nuclei and prefrontal cortex (PFC), while patients with implanted electrodes performed a visual consciousness task. Compared with the ventral nuclei and PFC, the intralaminar and medial nuclei presented earlier and stronger consciousness-related activity. Transient thalamofrontal neural synchrony and cross-frequency coupling were both driven by the θ phase of the intralaminar and medial nuclei during conscious perception. The intralaminar and medial thalamic nuclei thus play a gate role to drive the activity of the PFC during the emergence of conscious perception.