Flexible and specific contributions of thalamic subdivisions to human cognition

Linda A Antonucci; Nora Penzel; Alessandro Pigoni; Clara Dominke; Joseph Kambeitz; Giulio Pergola

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.01.014

Flexible and specific contributions of thalamic subdivisions to human cognition

Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2021 May:124:35-53. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.01.014. Epub 2021 Jan 23.

Authors

Linda A Antonucci¹, Nora Penzel², Alessandro Pigoni³, Clara Dominke⁴, Joseph Kambeitz⁵, Giulio Pergola⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Education, Psychology and Communication - University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Section for Neurodiagnostic Applications, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy - Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Munich, Germany; Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs - University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy. Electronic address: Linda.Antonucci@uniba.it.
² Section for Neurodiagnostic Applications, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy - Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry University of Cologne, Medical Faculty Cologne Germany.
³ Section for Neurodiagnostic Applications, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy - Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Munich, Germany; Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health - Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
⁴ Section for Neurodiagnostic Applications, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy - Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Munich, Germany.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry University of Cologne, Medical Faculty Cologne Germany.
⁶ Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs - University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy; Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: Giulio.Pergola@uniba.it.

PMID: 33497787
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.01.014

Abstract

The thalamus participates in multiple functional brain networks supporting different cognitive abilities. How thalamo-cortical connections map onto the architecture of human cognition remains an outstanding question. The aim of this meta-analysis is to map co-activation between thalamic and extra-thalamic brain regions onto separate cognitive domains and to assess thalamic subdivision specificity within each of the cognitive domains considered. We parsed 93 fMRI studies into twelve cognitive domains. Signed Differential Mapping served to obtain co-activation maps. We then projected the contribution of thalamic subdivisions onto a thalamic atlas to assess cognitive domain specificity. A set of brain regions was flexibly involved with thalamus in several cognitive domains. Thalamic subdivisions showed ample cognitive heterogeneity. Our proposed model represents thalamic involvement in cognition as an "ensemble" of functional subdivisions with common cell properties embedded in separate cortical circuits rather than a homogeneous functional unit.

Keywords: Cognitive specificity; Neuropsychology; Signed differential mapping; Thalamic parceling; Thalamus; fMRI.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis
Review

MeSH terms

Brain Mapping*
Cognition
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Neural Pathways
Thalamus*