Thalamus Paraventricular nucleus

Peng Z-C, Grassi-Zucconi G, Bentivoglio M (1995) Fos-related protein expression in the midline paraventricular nucleus of the rat thalamus basal oscillation and relationship with limbic efferents. Exp Brain Res 704 21-29. 

Pinto A, Jankowski M, Sesack SR (2003) Projections from the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus to the rat prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens shell ultrastructural characteristics and spatial relationships with dopamine afferents. J Comp Neurol 459 142-155. 

In the thalamus, nicotinic receptor subunits were decreased in the numbers of a and P2 immunoreactive neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PV) and nucleus reuniens (NR) in autistic subjects (Ray et al., 2005 Fig. 4). These deficits in nicotinic receptor subunits perhaps result in the failure of the PV and NR (and so the thalamus) to correctly modulate sensory input. This effect would then be transferred throughout the limbic system to other parts of the brain, contributing to the incorrect sensory processing found in autism (Martin-Ruiz et al., 2004). The co-expression of a and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) study indicated that despite the decrease in a7, the expression of GAD in the PV was similar in both autistic and control subjects (Ray et al., 2005). This suggests that the decrease in a7 subunits in the thalamus is not associated with the GABAergic system. 

Within the prosencephalon, FGF-1 positive neurons are sparse in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, but abundant in the septal area, nucleus basalis, and select nuclei of the thalamus (paraventricular, anterodorsal, lateral geniculate) and hypothalamus (lateroanterior). Other areas including pallidum and many thalamic and hypothalamic nuclei contain smaller but still substantial numbers of FGF-1 im-munoreactive neurons (Stock et al., 1992). 

Epinephrine-containing neurons are found in the medullary reticular formation and make restricted cormections to a few pontine and diencephalic nuclei, coursing as far rostrally as the paraventricular nucleus of the dorsal midline thalamus. Their physiological properties have not been identified. 

F/g. 9. The distribution of NR3A mRNA in the adult rat brain (X-ray film autoradiographs, coronal sections), am, amygdala cm, centromedial thalamic nucleus hy, hypothalamus Co, superior colliculus mg, medial geniculate nucleus pn, pontine nucleus pv, paraventricular thalamic nucleus rt, reticular thalamus. Scale bar, 1 mm (Ciabarra et al., 1995). 

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