Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42361794›Full record

ArticleNeuron2026

Higher-order thalamic bursts are drivers of attention control.

Rober Boshra, Michael Harris, Kacie Dougherty, Melissa Berg, Britney M Morea, Henry J Alitto, Mario C Rodriguez, W Martin Usrey, Sabine Kastner

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Neuron, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Rober BoshraPrinceton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA. Electronic address: rboshra@princeton.edu.
Michael HarrisPrinceton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA; Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Kacie DoughertyPrinceton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Melissa BergWashington National Primate Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
Britney M MoreaPrinceton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Henry J AlittoCenter for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Mario C RodriguezPrimate Research Resources, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
W Martin UsreyCenter for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Sabine KastnerPrinceton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA; Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.

Funding

Project 5: ComputationalP50MH109429 · NIMH · NATHAN S. KLINE INSTITUTE FOR PSYCH RES · PI STEPHANIE Ruggiano JONES · 2017 to 2026
$25.3M
Thalamocortical cognitive networks in the healthy human brainP50MH132642 · NIMH · PRINCETON UNIVERSITY · PI Michael M Halassa · 2023 to 2026
$15.7M
Functions of the Thalamus in Perception and CognitionR01EY017699 · NEI · PRINCETON UNIVERSITY · PI SABINE KASTNER · 2007 to 2026
$6.4M
Neural mechanisms of attentionR01MH064043 · NIMH · PRINCETON UNIVERSITY · PI KASTNER, SABINE, KNIGHT, ROBERT THOMAS · 2002 to 2020
$5.2M
Neural basis of visual attention in the primate brainR01MH137624 · NIMH · PRINCETON UNIVERSITY · PI KASTNER, SABINE, KNIGHT, ROBERT THOMAS · 2024 to 2025
$1.4M
NEI NIH HHS R01 EY017699NIMH NIH HHS P50 MH109429NIMH NIH HHS P50 MH132642NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH064043NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH137624
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Increasing evidence suggests that higher-order thalamic nuclei are implicated in cognitive behavior. Unlike those in the first-order thalamus, higher-order thalamic neurons have a high propensity to switch from tonic spiking to rapid spike sequences termed bursts. Although bursts have been linked to the augmentation of information transfer in a manner that may support behavior, their role in cognition has never been tested. We show that bursts in the pulvinar, a thalamic node linked to cortical coordination during attention, are attention-modulated and predict behavior. Using neural data from the pulvinar and parietal cortex in macaques performing an attention task, we found that pulvinar bursts were predictive of target detection and reconfigured population codes of spatial location in cortex. Electrical microstimulation of the pulvinar triggered bursts that enhanced target detection and synchronized cortical spiking. These results establish pulvinar bursts as a causal driver of attention, revealing a mechanism by which the higher-order thalamus exerts control over cortical processing and behavior.

Indexed as

attention controlelectrical microstimulationhigher-order thalamuslateral intraparietal areaparietal cortexprimate cognitionpulvinarspatial attentionthalamic burststhalamo-cortical interactions

Identifiers

PMID42361794
PMCPMC13429097

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.