TOWARDS ELUCIDATING THE PRINCIPLES OF PRIMATE THALAMOCORTICAL CIRCUITRY

The non-human primate thalamocortical circuit is a core neural circuit in the brain that plays a central role in cognition and motor control. The joint Polish-Chinese project “Elucidating the principles of primate thalamocortical circuitry” aims to explain the fine structure, connection patterns, and functional organizational principles of the thalamocortical loop and explore primate-specific features by comparing them with rodent models.
By integrating single-cell resolution spatial transcriptomics, multi-modal connectomics, and innovative computational methods to construct a comprehensive multi-modal atlas of the marmoset thalamocortical circuit, we plan to systematically investigate the connection patterns of the primate thalamocortical loop, analyze the correlation between spatial gene expression gradients and connection patterns in the thalamus and cortex, and identify structural and functional species-specific features of the primate thalamocortical circuit compared to rodents.

As a first step of the project, we will present detailed delineation criteria for the non-human primate thalamus, and neocortical areas related to the thalamocortical loop. This will be accompanied by datasets on spatial transcriptomics, cortico-cortical hodology, and functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging.

The results of this research will provide a new perspective on understanding the complexity and uniqueness of the primate brain and offer new ideas and targets for the diagnosis and treatment of neuropathologies.
The project is supported by the National Science Centre Poland (UMO-2025/56/Q/NZ2/00227).