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Cerebellar and basal ganglia inputs define three main nuclei in the mouse ventral motor thalamus.

Publicated to:Frontiers In Neuroanatomy. 17 1242839- - 2023-01-01 17(), DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2023.1242839

Authors: Alonso-Martínez C; Rubio-Teves M; Porrero C; Clascá F; Casas-Torremocha D

Affiliations

4.09.00 - Neurociència de sistemes. Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer - Author
Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. - Author

Abstract

The thalamus is a central link between cortical and subcortical brain motor systems. Axons from the deep nuclei of the cerebellum (DCN), or the output nuclei of the basal ganglia system (substantia nigra reticulata, SNr; and internal pallidum GPi/ENT) monosynaptically innervate the thalamus, prominently some nuclei of the ventral nuclear group. In turn, axons from these ventral nuclei innervate the motor and premotor areas of the cortex, where their input is critical for planning, execution and learning of rapid and precise movements. Mice have in recent years become a widely used model in motor system research. However, information on the distribution of cerebellar and basal ganglia inputs in the rodent thalamus remains poorly defined. Here, we mapped the distribution of inputs from DCN, SNr, and GPi/ENT to the ventral nuclei of the mouse thalamus. Immunolabeling for glutamatergic and GABAergic neurotransmission markers delineated two distinct main territories, characterized each by the presence of large vesicular glutamate transporter type 2 (vGLUT2) puncta or vesicular GABA transporter (vGAT) puncta. Anterograde labeling of axons from DCN revealed that they reach virtually all parts of the ventral nuclei, albeit its axonal varicosities (putative boutons) in the vGAT-rich sector are consistently smaller than those in the vGLUT2-rich sector. In contrast, the SNr axons innervate the whole vGAT-rich sector, but not the vGLUT2-rich sector. The GPi/ENT axons were found to innervate only a small zone of the vGAT-rich sector which is also targeted by the other two input systems. Because inputs fundamentally define thalamic cell functioning, we propose a new delineation of the mouse ventral motor nuclei that is consistent with the distribution of DCN, SNr and GPi/ENT inputs and resembles the general layout of the ventral motor nuclei in primates.

Keywords

CerebellumInternal globus pallidusSubstantia nigra pars reticulataVentral anterior thalamic nucleusVentral lateral thalamic nucleusVentromedial thalamic nucleusVesicular gaba transporterVesicular glutamate transporters

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Frontiers In Neuroanatomy due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position 5/22, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Anatomy & Morphology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 2.58, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-13, the following number of citations:

  • Scopus: 5
  • OpenCitations: 1

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-13:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 12.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 12 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 2.75.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 5 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (Casas Torremocha, Diana).