Ascending and descending motor pathways converge in the centrolateral nucleus of the thalamus

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Abstract Corollary discharge (CD) signals are copies of motor commands that inform the brain of impending movements. Dysfunction in CD has been implicated in a variety of disorders, from schizophrenia to Parkinson’s disease. In the current study, we used intersectional viral tracing techniques, electron microscopy, and dual opsin optogenetics to investigate potential CD circuits in mice. We focused on the centrolateral (CL) nucleus of the thalamus to relate our findings to previous studies of CD carried out in primates. We found that single neurons in the CL nucleus integrate ascending inputs from premotor neurons in the superior colliculus with descending inputs from neurons in layer 5 of the motor cortex; these integrated signals are subsequently sent to the striatum and motor cortex. These results suggest that the CL circuits may detect the relative timing of cortical and subcortical movement commands, providing an important feedback loop for ongoing adjustments of movement planning and initiation.
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Ascending and descending motor pathways converge in the centrolateral nucleus of the thalamus | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Ascending and descending motor pathways converge in the centrolateral nucleus of the thalamus Martha Bickford, Nazratan Naeem, Sean Masterson, Arkadiusz Slusarczyk This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8264428/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Corollary discharge (CD) signals are copies of motor commands that inform the brain of impending movements. Dysfunction in CD has been implicated in a variety of disorders, from schizophrenia to Parkinson’s disease. In the current study, we used intersectional viral tracing techniques, electron microscopy, and dual opsin optogenetics to investigate potential CD circuits in mice. We focused on the centrolateral (CL) nucleus of the thalamus to relate our findings to previous studies of CD carried out in primates. We found that single neurons in the CL nucleus integrate ascending inputs from premotor neurons in the superior colliculus with descending inputs from neurons in layer 5 of the motor cortex; these integrated signals are subsequently sent to the striatum and motor cortex. These results suggest that the CL circuits may detect the relative timing of cortical and subcortical movement commands, providing an important feedback loop for ongoing adjustments of movement planning and initiation. Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Sensorimotor processing Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Motor control Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8264428","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":574616725,"identity":"cebd3460-6c92-4eac-851f-d4e7b60da4bf","order_by":0,"name":"Martha 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