Higher order sensory information is typically relayed through the posterior thalamustowards the cortex. Using a transgenic mouse strain, we identified a neuronpopulation in the posterior thalamic nuclear group, based on their transient embryonicexpression of secretagogin, a calcium sensor protein. Anterograde tracing wasperformed by using adeno-associated viral vectors carrying the mCherry transgene in12-16 weeks old Scgn-Cre mice and imaging was performed after standardimmunohistochemistry on a ZEISS 780 CLSM platform. Other animals received AAVparticles carrying Cre-dependent DREADD expression systems for neuronalactivation (hM3Dq) and subsequently exposed to behavioral tests, including openfield, tail suspension and elevated plus maze tests after CNO activation. Neurons ofthe identified thalamic cell group do not show cortical projection. Instead, they projectonto the ventral pallidum, zona incerta, ventral anterior/lateral thalamic nuclei, thepontine gigantocellular nuclei, midbrain periaqueductal grey and the locus coeruleus.Virus-mediated stimulation of posterior thalamic secretagogin-neurons increase thetime spent in the closed arm during elevated plus maze test. Open field test and tailsuspension test brought no difference in animal behavior after secretagogin-cellsactivation. Conclusively, we identified a distinct cell group in the multimodal thalamicdivision which lack cortical projection but robustly contact subcortical fields involvedin motor control to shape behavior-dependent motor actions.