Thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) has been shown to gate sensory thalamo-cortical interactions and selectively modulate thalamic sensory information processing according to behavioral demands. However, whether TRN can exert long-range, i.e., beyond thalamus, cross-modal modulation of sensory processing remains unclear. In this fMRI study, we demonstrate that optogenetic excitation of somatosensory-specific TRN enhances cross-modal excitatory sensory inputs but suppresses cross-modal competing inputs at somatosensory cortices. Our work provides insight into how TRN differentially gate the processing of distinct cross-modal sensory information at large-scale, which may be critical for ensuring the balance between various task demands.
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