Abstract: The cingulate cortex in the prefrontal cortex is an encephalic region that closely relates to the sensory function. The thalamic tactile response can be modulated by cingulate cortex. Using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) retrograde tracing technique, the pathway that anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) modulates sensory information of thalamic ventrobasal (VB) nucleus was investigated. The experiments were performed using 10 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats that were anesthetized with napental (1%). The results suggested that VB nucleus could accept the projections from posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). In addition, PCC had projections from ACC as well. Therefore, the circuit loop of ACC-PCC-thalamic VB nucleus might be one of the pathways by which ACC modulates the activities of tactile neurons in thalamic VB nucleus.

Key words: tactile information, thalamic VB nucleus, HRP, ACC, prefrontal cortex, tactile information, thalamic VB nucleus, HRP, ACC