Human high-order thalamic nuclei gate conscious perception through the thalamofrontal loop

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fang, Zepeng; Dang, Yuanyuan; Ping, An'an; Wang, Chenyu; Zhao, Qianchuan; Zhao, Hulin; Li, Xiaoli; Zhang, Mingsha
• 署名单位: Beijing Normal University; Beijing Normal University; Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital; Tsinghua University; Pazhou Lab
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-10118
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adr3675
• 发表日期: 2025-04-04
• 关键词: prefrontal cortex; networks; eeg; stimulation; correlate

摘要

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 theta 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.