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Lateral Geniculate Nucleus of the Thalamus

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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

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Synonyms

LGN

Structure

Anatomy and location: The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) is a bilateral nucleus located on the caudal, inferior surface of the thalamus, lying lateral to the medial geniculate nucleus, inferior to the pulvinar and superior to the pretectal area. The LGN comprises six layers that relay information to cells in the visual cortex. The magnocellular layers (layers 1–2) send information to the area of the cortex that processes large features and motion. The parvocellular layers (layers 3–6) send information to the area of the visual cortex that processes finer details and color.

Input pathways: Visual input from retinal ganglion cells in both eyes sends information to the optic nerve, whose fibers cross at the optic chiasm and then continue in the optic tract. Fibers cross so that information from the right visual field from both eyes is sent to the left optic tract and information from the left visual field of both eyes is sent to the right optic tract. Optic tract...

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References and Readings

  • Blumenfeld, H. (2002). Neuroanatomy through clinical cases. Sunderland: Sinauer Associates.

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  • Crossman, A. R., & Neary, D. (2000). Neuroanatomy (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingston.

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  • Haines, D. E. (2000). Neuroanatomy: An atlas of structures, sections, and systems (5th ed.). Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

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  • Mendoza, J., & Foundas, A. L. (2008). Clinical neuroanatomy: A neurobehavioral approach. New York: Springer.

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  • Purves, D., Augustine, G. J., Fitzpatrick, D., Katz, L. C., LaMantia, A., McNamara, J. O., & Williams, S. M. (2001). Neuroscience (2nd ed.). Sunderland: Sinauer Associates.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Chapel Hill Pediatric Psychology, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Andrew Preston

  2. Allison Schettini Evans, PhD/Comprehensive Neuropsychological Services, 347 Main Street, Suite 307, 01742, Concord, MA, USA

    Allison S. Evans

Authors
  1. Andrew Preston
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  2. Allison S. Evans
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew Preston .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Richmond, Virgin Islands, USA

    Jeffrey Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation , West Orange, New Jersey, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Suite 200 , Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Preston, A., Evans, A.S. (2017). Lateral Geniculate Nucleus of the Thalamus. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_1378-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_1378-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

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