DENDRITIC ARBORS OF NEURONS FROM DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE RAT THALAMIC RETICULAR NUCLEUS SHARE A SIMILAR ORIENTATION

Neurons in different regions of the rat thalamic reticular nucleus wer e labeled with biotin dextran amine and reconstructed. When viewed in coronal section, some neurons had a radial dendritic tree while others had dorso-ventrally elongated arbors. When rotated, all the neurons h ad a planar, disc-shaped dendritic field with the dendrites orientated parallel to the long axis of the nucleus. We conclude that all thalam ic reticular nucleus neurons have a similar dendritic morphology and o rientation.