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Attentional flexibility in the thalamus: now we're getting SOMwhere

Loss of the receptor tyrosine kinase ErbB4 in somatostatin (SOM) inhibitory neurons of the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) enhances top-down cortical feedback, improving feature detection at the cost of reduced ability to switch attention. The study furthers our understanding of the circuit mechanisms underlying TRN function.

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Figure 1: Integrating thalamic ErbB4 function across synapses, circuits and behavior: a hypothetical model.

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Correspondence to John R Huguenard.

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Makinson, C., Huguenard, J. Attentional flexibility in the thalamus: now we're getting SOMwhere. Nat Neurosci 18, 2–4 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3902

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