Neuronal degeneration and connectivity modifications in the thalamic pulvinar nuclei following lesions of the primary visual cortex in the marmoset monkey

The pulvinar is a group of nuclei in the brain that works together with other structures to help transmit visual signals to brain areas involved in vision processing. In this study, the pulvinar in blind animals was checked for signs of damage and wiring changes to other visual areas. The results showed that pulvinar was not damaged and had similar wiring to other tested visual areas. These results suggest that the pulvinar remains healthy and can continue to transmit important signals to substitute visual areas in blind animals, independent of what age the blindness occurred.