Study could help explain link between seizures and psychiatric disorders
Most sensory information from the outside world -- including sight, touch and sound -- is collected in a region of the brain called the thalamus. The thalamus then relays signals to the cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer responsible for higher processes like decision-making. "The reticular thalamus acts like a gate that filters information from the thalamus and dispatches signals to the cortex," explained Jeanne Paz, PhD, assistant investigator at Gladstone and senior author of the new study. "You can think of it as a switchboard operator from the 1950s, who would transfer incoming calls to the correct parties." The reticular thalamus is involved in several functions, including attention, perception, and consciousness. Disruptions in this region can lead to seizures and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, little is known about how neurons in this brain region function as gateke...