What is it about?

The basal ganglia are a set of brain regions that help control movement, emotion, and many other important functions. Diseases like Parkinson's directly affect the basal ganglia. Researchers have proposed complex circuits and loops connecting the basal ganglia with the cortex through "middle man" structures like the thalamus. In this paper, we show that an important basal ganglia structure directly communicates with the cortex--a neural "shortcut."

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Why is it important?

Our findings re-write the wiring diagrams for the basal ganglia and the cortex. The "shortcut" from the globus pallidus externa goes straight to the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain we know is important for planning and making movements. The neural "shortcut" we describe can help us understand how dysfunction in the basal ganglia leads to movement problems. We hope that this work will help develop new ways of understanding and treating neurological disorders involving the basal ganglia.

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This page is a summary of: Identification of a direct GABAergic pallidocortical pathway in rodents, European Journal of Neuroscience, January 2015, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/ejn.12822.
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