The medial dorsal nucleus is one of the thalamic relays of the cerebellocerebral responses to the frontal association cortex in the monkey: horseradish peroxidase and fluorescent dye double staining study.
To reveal the thalamic relay nucleus of the cerebellocerebral responses in the frontal association cortex, simultaneous labeling of the cerebellothalamic (C-T) terminals and the thalamocortical (T-Cx) neurons was performed in three monkeys. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was injected into the deep cerebellar nuclei and small doses of HRP or fluorescent dye were injected into the prefrontal cortex. The distribution of anterogradely labeled C-T terminals and retrogradely labeled T-Cx neurons was examined in the same sections. In addition to being distributed in the ventral thalamic nuclei and nucleus X, as previously reported, anterogradely labeled terminals were distributed in the ventrolateral part of the medial dorsal (MD) nucleus where retrogradely labeled thalamo-frontal projection neurons were localized. This study revealed that the ventrolateral parts of the MD together (MDmf, MDpc and MDdc) form one of the thalamic relays of the cerebelloprefrontal responses.