Electrophysiological and behavioral experiments on the primate pulvinar

This chapter discusses the electrophysiological and behavioral experiments on the primate pulvinar. Most ideas about pulvinar function are based on the functions of those structures with which it is connected. Thus, the extensive connections with prestriate and inferior temporal cortex have suggested a role in visual learning or memory. A different view of pulvinar function, based on projections it receives from the superior colliculus, is that it serves as a thalamic link forwarding visual information from midbrain to extrastriate cortex. The critical afferent pathway to the colliculus, however, does seem to vary with the task. In trying to understand the role of the tectopulvinar system, the chapter uses both physiological and behavioral approaches. It may be that whatever function the pulvinar contributes by virtue of its thalamocortical relations, that function can be substituted adequately for, by direct cortico-cortical connections, thus making the lesion method useless.