The ability to adapt to dynamic environments requires tracking multiple signals with variable sensory salience and fluctuating behavioral relevance. This complex process requires integrative crosstalk between sensory and cognitive brain circuits. Functional interactions between cortical and thalamic regions are now considered essential for both sensory perception and cognition but a clear account of the functional link between sensory and cognitive circuits is currently lacking. This review aims to document how thalamic nuclei may effectively act as a bridge allowing to fuse perceptual and cognitive events into meaningful experiences. After highlighting key aspects of thalamocortical circuits such as the classic first-order/higher-order dichotomy, we consider the role of the thalamic reticular nucleus from directed attention to cognition. We next summarize research relying on Pavlovian learning paradigms, showing that both first-order and higher-order thalamic nuclei contribute to associative learning. Finally, we propose that modulator inputs reaching all thalamic nuclei may be critical for integrative purposes when environmental signals are computed. Altogether, the thalamus appears as the bridge linking perception, cognition and possibly affect.

适应动态环境的能力需要以可变的感官显着性和波动的行为相关性跟踪多个信号。这个复杂的过程需要感觉和认知脑回路之间的综合串扰。现在认为皮质和丘脑区域之间的功能相互作用对于感觉感知和认知都是必不可少的，但是目前尚缺乏对感觉和认知回路之间的功能联系的清楚说明。这篇综述旨在证明丘脑核如何有效地充当桥梁，使感性和认知事件融合为有意义的体验。在强调了丘脑皮质回路的关键方面（例如经典的一阶/高阶二分法）之后，我们从直接关注到认知来考虑丘脑网状核的作用。接下来，我们将总结依赖于巴甫洛夫式学习范式的研究，结果表明，一阶和高阶丘脑核都有助于联想学习。最后，我们提出，当计算环境信号时，到达所有丘脑核的调制器输入对于整合目的可能至关重要。总的来说，丘脑是连接感知，认知和可能影响的桥梁。