Receptor architecture of the macaque lateral geniculate nucleus.

Overview

1. Faculty of Design and Architecture, Nagoya City University, 2-1-10, Kita Chikusa, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464−0083 Japan
2. Division and Sensory and Cognitive Brain Mapping, Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, 444–8585 Japan
3. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, 102−0083 Japan
4. Laboratory for Imagination and Executive Functions, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Wako, 351−0198 Japan
5. C. & O. Vogt Institute of Brain Research, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
6. Research Centre Jülich, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), 52425 Jülich, Germany
7. Department of Psychology, School of Public Policy and Management, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031 China
8. The Graduate Institute of Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, Hayama, 240−0115 Japan
9. Core for Spin Life Sciences, Okazaki Collaborative Platform, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Okazaki, 444–8585 Japan

Abstract

The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) is a key thalamic nucleus in the primate visual system that relays visual information from the retina to cortical visual areas. While functional and microanatomical characteristics of the LGN and its layers have been extensively studied, previous investigations on its receptor architecture have been restricted to a small subset of neurotransmitter receptors. To characterise the receptor architecture of the macaque LGN in greater detail, we analysed in vitro autoradiography data to quantify the density of 15 neurotransmitter receptors at the sublayer level, thus improving our understanding of the molecular architecture supporting primate visual function. For comparison, we also determined the densities of these receptors in the primary visual cortex (V1) at a laminar level. Though comparable in shape, the receptor fingeprints of magnocellular layers were larger than those of parvocellular layers. In contrast, receptor fingerprints of cytoarchitectonic layers in V1 differed in both shape and size. Ionotropic/metabotropic and excitatory/inhibitory receptor ratios were significantly larger in V1 than in the LGN, suggesting a greater prominence of inhibitory neurotransmission in the latter region. The nicotinic α4β2 receptor was the only receptor type with a higher density in the LGN compared to V1, highlighting the particular importance of acetylcholine in the modulation of visual stimuli. These findings provide insights into the receptor architecture underlying functions of the LGN, with implications for mechanisms such as visual signal encoding and surround suppression.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00429-026-03109-5.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Data

Datasets cited

• doi:10.25493/vs8j-v0e, at the source; found in “Data availability”

Data availability

The original data, including numbers of receptor densities used for generating figures shown in this manuscript, are provided in the Supplementary Tables (Tables S1 and S2) and have been made publicly available via the EBRAINS platform (https://doi.org/10.25493/VS8J-V0E).

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Version 2, 28 September 2026

• Publisher: n/a → Springer Science+Business Media

Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 7 authors, 6 keywords, 9 MeSH terms, 1 funder, 116 references.

Cite

This paper

Saito, M., Rapan, L., Niu, M., Zhao, L., Tsujimura, S.-i., Takemura, H., & Palomero-Gallagher, N. (2026). Receptor architecture of the macaque lateral geniculate nucleus. Brain structure & function, 231(5), 67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-026-03109-5

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