The medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) or medial geniculate body (MGB) is part of the auditory thalamus and represents the thalamic relay between the inferior colliculus (IC) and the auditory cortex (AC). It is made up of a number of sub-nuclei that are distinguished by their neuronal morphology and density, by their afferent and efferent connections, and by the coding properties of their neurons. It is thought that the MGN influences the direction and maintenance of attention.

The MGN has three major divisions; ventral (VMGN), dorsal (DMGN) and medial (MMGN). Whilst the VMGN is specific to auditory information processing, the DMGN and MMGN also receive information from non-auditory pathways.

There are two main cell types in the ventral subnucleus of the medial geniculate body (VMGN):

The VMGN is thought to be primarily responsible for relaying frequency, intensity and binaural information to the cortex. The responses in the VMGN appear to be organized in a tonotopically similar way to those in the IC. The primary difference being that the iso-frequency bands are arranged such that lateral regions are most responsive to low frequencies and medial regions are responsive to high frequencies. Spatiotopic and modulotopic maps (as in the IC) however have not been well supported by mammalian studies. Both monaural (10%) and binaural cells (90%) exist in the MGN. The monaural cells are primarily responsive to sound in the contralateral hemifield. Binaural cells are typically similar to the EE or EI type found in the IC.

Definitions of abbreviations

IC = Inferior colliculus

EE (Excitatory excitatory) type neurons are characterized by excitatory responses to monaural stimulations of both ears. This response may either be higher than the monaural response (EE– facilitation) Or lower (EE– occlusion)

EI (Excitatory inhibitory) type neurons Are characterized by monaural excitation (usually from the contralateral ear). The ipsilateral neuron is inhibited when contralateral ear is stimulated at the same time