In monkeys, the integrity of the magnocellular subdivision of mediodorsal thalamus is important when using recent rewarded choices to promote persistence with a recently sampled choice during changing or uncertain reward guided-learning and decision-making tasks.

Transient suppression of activity in the macaque mediodorsal thalamus impairs adjustment of secondary reinforcer values and disrupts appropriate action selection in a reinforcer devaluation task; this profile is distinct from that of amygdala or subregions of orbitofrontal cortex.

Disconnection of the orbitofrontal cortex from the submedius nucleus but not the mediodorsal thalamus prevented rats to respond adaptively following action-outcome reversal, showing differential involvement of these thalamocortical circuits.

A thalamic stroke in the mediodorsal nucleus is related to a spared familiarity.

Local cortical sleep features arise subcortically due to heterogeneous burst discharge in neurons of a sleep rhythm pacemaker previously thought to act uniformly.

By differentially modulating the two major excitatory inputs to the striatum, mu- and delta-opioid receptors regulate the balance between thalamic and cortical inputs to the striatum.

While the basal ganglia have long been thought to mediate learning through dopamine-dependent striatal plasticity, their regulation of motor thalamus plays an unexpected and critical role in reinforcement.

A novel connection from ventral striatum to motor cortex enables emotion and motivation to influence action and motor control.

Adaptive decision-making critically depends on antiparallel flows conveying distinct information within thalamocortical circuits, highlighting directionality of functional exchanges as a neural principle potentially at play in virtually any brain circuit with reciprocal projections.

The first comprehensive map of all excitatory inputs to the mouse striatum is presented and used to define and demarcate striatal subdivisions, including a previous unappreciated novel subdivision in the posterior striatum.