The pulvinar is a major nucleus in the primate thalamus. It has extensive connections with the visual cortical areas and with the superior colliculus. Electrophysiological and behavioral studies in monkeys, and the effects of stroke in man, indicate that the pulvinar plays an important role in visual information processing and visuomotor integration. Our long-term goal is to understand the pulvinar's role in vision. Goals of the proposed project are to determine the contributions of striate cortex and the superior colliculus to visual information coding in the inferior pulvinar. The visual responses of pulvinar cells will be examined with microelectrode recordings in the anesthetized monkey following ablation of striate cortex or the superior colliculus. The effects of saccadic eye movements on the visual excitability of pulvinar neurons will be examined in the awake, behaving monkey. The effects of the behavioral significance of stimuli on pulvinar neuron responses will also be examined. The effects of pulvinar ablation on visually-guided eye movements will also be determined.
