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. 2012 Jul 11;6:24. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2012.00024

Table 1.

Pathways in the whisker-to-barrel cortex system.

Pathway Brainstem (trigeminal nuclei) Thalamus (contralateral) Neocortex (main target regions are italicized and bold) Response type
Lemniscal (1) N. principalis VPMdm core barreloid S1 Layer 3 Single whisker
S1 Layer 4 barrels
S1 Layer 5B
S1 Layer 6A
Lemniscal (2) N. principalis VPMdm head barreloid S1 Layer 4 septa Single whisker
Multiple whisker
Extralemniscal N. interpolaris (caudal) VPMvl No clear barreloid detectable S1 Layer 3 dysgranular Multiple whisker
S1 Layer 4 dysgranular
S1 Layer 6A dysgranular
S2 Layer 4
S2 Layer 6
Paralemniscal N. interpolaris (rostral) POm S1 Layer 1 barrels and septa Multiple whisker
S1 Layer 4 septa
S1 Layer 5A barrels and septa
S2

Pathways from the brain stem to the barrel cortex indicating the name of the pathway, the brainstem relay, the thalamic relay station, the target regions in the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices and whether the neuronal response is elicited only by a single or by several (multiple) whiskers.