Pulvinar nuclei

Pulvinar nuclei are examples of dorsal tier sub-group of the lateral group of thalamic nuclei. These are heavily interconnected with multiple cortical areas through two-way neuronal connections, creating cortico-pulvino-cortical pathways. Like the lateral dorsal and lateral posterior nuclei, the main functions of pulvinar nuclei are uncertain. However, the pulvinar nuclei have been proposed to maintain oscillatory synchronization between various cortical regions by means of the cortico-pulvino-cortical connections. Through such synchronization, pulvinar nuclei coordinate cortical interactions in a temporal domain, to influence various cognitive behaviors, including attention, working memory, and decision-making. Some of their connections to the visual cortex also suggest their role in a direct cortical activation, that contributes to visual sensory processing.