Projections of thalamic and cortical gustatory areas in the rat,

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Abstract
The method of Nauta was used to stain axons which degenerated after lesions of the thalamic projection nucleus and cortical zone subserving gustation in the rat. Lesions of the medial subnucleus of the thalamic ventral nuclear complex resulted principally in degeneration which passed rostrolaterally through the thalamus, internal capsule, globus pallidus, and striatum to terminate in insular and inferior parietal cortex around the region of the middle cerebral artery. Lesions of this cortical projection zone resulted in degeneration which passed caudomedially through the same striatal and pallidal areas traversed by the thalamocortical fibers. One component of these fibers continued into the thalamus to terminate just dorsal to the medial subnucleus. A second component turned caudally into the cerebral peduncle to terminate in the substantia nigra. There was evidence of terminal degeneration in the striatum but not in the pallidum after both thalamic and cortical lesions. There was no evidence of degeneration in any structures primarily associated with olfactory or alimentary functions.