The role of the thalamus in the human subcortical vestibular system.

Most of our knowledge concerning central vestibular pathways is derived from animal studies while evidence of the functional importance and localization of these pathways in humans is less well defined. The termination of these pathways at the thalamic level in humans is even less known. In this review we summarize the findings concerning the central subcortical vestibular pathways in humans and the role of these structures in the central vestibular system with regard to anatomical localization and function. Also, we review the role of the thalamus in the pathogenesis of higher order sensory deficits such as spatial neglect, pusher syndrome or thalamic astasia and the correlation of these phenomena with findings of a vestibular tone imbalance at the thalamic level. By highlighting thalamic structures involved in vestibular signal processing and relating the different nomenclatures we hope to provide a base for future studies on thalamic sensory signal processing.

[1]  D. Prayer,et al.  Thalamic astasia from isolated centromedian thalamic infarction , 2012, Neurology.

[2]  J. Masdeu,et al.  Thalamic astasia: Inability to stand after unilateral thalamic lesions , 1988, Annals of neurology.

[3]  G. Schaltenbrand,et al.  Atlas for Stereotaxy of the Human Brain , 1977 .

[4]  J. Büttner-Ennever,et al.  A review of otolith pathways to brainstem and cerebellum. , 1999, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[5]  T. Brandt,et al.  Vertigo and Dizziness , 2011 .

[6]  Yoshiharu Sakata,et al.  The Vestibular Cortex , 2002 .

[7]  J. Masdeu,et al.  Posterior thalamic hemorrhage induces “pusher syndrome” , 2005, Neurology.

[8]  T. Brandt,et al.  Thalamic infarctions , 1993, Neurology.

[9]  O. Blanke,et al.  The thalamocortical vestibular system in animals and humans , 2011, Brain Research Reviews.

[10]  J. Schmahmann.  Vascular syndromes of the thalamus. , 2003, Stroke.

[11]  C. Matesz,et al.  Efferent connections of the vestibular nuclei in the rat: a neuromorphological study using PHA-L , 2002, Brain Research Bulletin.

[12]  T. Brandt,et al.  An ipsilateral vestibulothalamic tract adjacent to the medial lemniscus in humans. , 2008, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[13]  Jong-Min Lee,et al.  Ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials induced by air-conducted sound in patients with acute brainstem lesions , 2013, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[14]  C. Tilikete,et al.  New insights into the upward vestibulo-oculomotor pathways in the human brainstem. , 2008, Progress in brain research.

[15]  N. Antonios,et al.  Combined thalamic ptosis and astasia , 2013, Journal of Clinical Neuroscience.

[16]  K. Nakano,et al.  The vestibular nuclei of the rat project to the lateral part of the thalamic parafascicular nucleus (centromedian nucleus in primates) , 1995, Brain Research.

[17]  F. Dick,et al.  Voxel-based lesion–symptom mapping , 2003, Nature Neuroscience.

[18]  T. Brandt,et al.  Multisensory cortical signal increases and decreases during vestibular galvanic stimulation (fMRI). , 2001, Journal of neurophysiology.

[19]  H. Karnath,et al.  The subcortical anatomy of human spatial neglect: putamen, caudate nucleus and pulvinar. , 2002, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[20]  Perverted head shaking nystagmus in focal pontine infarction , 2011, Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

[21]  D. Angelaki,et al.  Two-dimensional spatiotemporal coding of linear acceleration in vestibular nuclei neurons , 1993, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[22]  P. Lee,et al.  Thalamic infarct presenting with thalamic astasia , 2005, European journal of neurology.

[23]  Thomas Brandt,et al.  Metabolic changes in vestibular and visual cortices in acute vestibular neuritis , 2004, Annals of neurology.

[24]  Marianne Dieterich,et al.  A Pathway in the Brainstem for Roll-Tilt of the Subjective Visual Vertical: Evidence from a Lesion–Behavior Mapping Study , 2012, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[25]  T. Brandt,et al.  Vestibular syndromes in the roll plane: Topographic diagnosis from brainstem to cortex , 1994, Annals of neurology.

[26]  D. Pérennou,et al.  Humans use internal models to construct and update a sense of verticality. , 2010, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[27]  T. Brandt,et al.  Dominance for vestibular cortical function in the non-dominant hemisphere. , 2003, Cerebral cortex.

[28]  E. G. Jones,et al.  A new parcellation of the human thalamus on the basis of histochemical staining , 1989, Brain Research Reviews.

[29]  N. Müller,et al.  Topographic diagnosis of internuclear ophthalmoparesis: evidence from a lesion-behavior mapping study , 2013, Journal of Neurology.

[30]  Uwe Klose,et al.  Perfusion Imaging in Pusher Syndrome to Investigate the Neural Substrates Involved in Controlling Upright Body Position , 2009, PloS one.

[31]  H. Karnath,et al.  Using human brain lesions to infer function: a relic from a past era in the fMRI age? , 2004, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[32]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[33]  P. May,et al.  Vestibular Signals in Primate Thalamus: Properties and Origins , 2007, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[34]  T. Brandt,et al.  Unilateral INO is associated with ocular tilt reaction in pontomesencephalic lesions , 2008, Neurology.

[35]  Andrew J. Vickers,et al.  Basic and Clinical Aspects of Vertigo and Dizziness , 2009 .

[36]  J. Moringlane,et al.  Thalamic stimulation for essential tremor activates motor and deactivates vestibular cortex , 2001, Neurology.

[37]  J. Dichgans,et al.  The origin of contraversive pushing , 2000, Neurology.

[38]  L. Johannsen,et al.  Subjective visual vertical (SVV) determined in a representative sample of 15 patients with pusher syndrome , 2006, Journal of Neurology.

[39]  S. I. Perlmutter,et al.  Spatial properties of second-order vestibulo-ocular relay neurons in the alert cat , 1990, Experimental Brain Research.

[40]  M. Dieterich,et al.  Are signs of ocular tilt reaction in patients with cerebellar lesions mediated by the dentate nucleus , 2008 .

[41]  J. Rothwell,et al.  Lateropulsion, pushing and verticality perception in hemisphere stroke: a causal relationship? , 2008, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[42]  Marianne Dieterich,et al.  Spatial neglect--a vestibular disorder? , 2006, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[43]  D. Karussis,et al.  Cognitive dysfunction following thalamic stroke: a study of 16 cases and review of the literature , 2000, Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

[44]  T. Brandt,et al.  Thalamic infarctions cause side-specific suppression of vestibular cortex activations. , 2005, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[45]  R. Knight,et al.  The functional neuroanatomy of working memory: Contributions of human brain lesion studies , 2006, Neuroscience.

[46]  J. Bogousslavsky,et al.  Thalamic hemorrhage , 2016 .

[47]  Thomas Brandt,et al.  Vertigo and Dizziness: Common Complaints , 2005 .

[48]  D. Anastasopoulos,et al.  Positional nystagmus and vertigo due to a solitary brachium conjunctivum plaque , 2006, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

[49]  H. Karnath,et al.  Spontaneous eye and head position in patients with spatial neglect , 2005, Journal of Neurology.

[50]  R. Hassler,et al.  Correlations between clinical and autoptic findings in stereotaxic operations of parkinsonism. , 1965, Confinia neurologica.

[51]  T. Brandt,et al.  The Vestibular Cortex: Its Locations, Functions, and Disorders , 1999, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[52]  John B. Shoven,et al.  I , Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal.

[53]  S. Highstein,et al.  The vestibulothalamic pathway: Contribution of the ascending tract of deiters , 1982, Brain Research.

[54]  E. Kumral,et al.  Thalamic hemorrhage. A prospective study of 100 patients. , 1995, Stroke.