Main description:

The striatum is the principal input structure of the basal ganglia. Numerically, the great majority of neurons in the striatum are spiny projection neurons, which produce the inhibitory output of the striatum to the globus pallidum and substantia nigra. The major glutamatergic afferents to the striatum from the cerebral cortex make monosynaptic contact with spiny projection neurons. The dopaminergic afferents from the substantia nigra also synapse directly on the spiny projection neurons. Thus, the spiny projection neurons play a crucial role in the input-output operations of the striatum by integrating glutamatergic cortical inputs with dopaminergic inputs and producing the output to other basal ganglia nuclei. Anatomical observations made nearly 30 years ago suggested that inhibitory interactions among the spiny projection neurons of the striatum are very pr- able. Individual spiny projection neurons produce a local axonal plexus in the spheroidal space occupied by their own dendritic trees [1, 2]. Based on the GABAergic nature of these neurons and their synaptic contacts with other spiny neurons, several authors have proposed that the spiny projection neurons form a lateral inhibition type of neural network [3-5]. In the idealised concept of lateral inhibition, each output neuron makes inhibitory synaptic contact with its neighbours [5]. However, there are physical limitations set by the extent of axonal and dendritic trees, and the number of synaptic sites, which mean that lateral inhibition is limited to a local domain of inhibition.

Contents:

Table of Contents: All Authors have been confirmed Section I. Functional Anatomy of the Cortico-subcortical Circuits Dr. Heinz Steiner (Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Chicago Medical School) Prof. Paul Bolam (MRC, Anatomical Neuropharmacology Unit, Oxford, UK) Prof. Susan Haber (Rochester University, NY) Dr. Catherine Le Moine (Bordeaux, France) Section II. Anatomical Studies of the Cortico-subcortical circuits & Parkinson's Disease Prof. Gloria Meredith (Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, The Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, IL, USA) Dr. Erwan Bezard (Bordeaux, France) Dr. Sarah McCallum (Albany Medical College, Albany, NY, USA) Dr. Kuei Y. Tseng (Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, The Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, IL, USA) Section III. Physiological Studies of the Cortico-subcortical Dynamics & Parkinson's Disease Drs. James Surmeier & Michelle Day (Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA) Dr. Carlos Cepeda (UCLA, California, USA) Drs. Anthony West & Majorie Ariano (Neuroscience, The Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, IL, USA) Dr. Charles Meshul (VA Medical Center, Portland, OR, USA) Dr. Gustavo Murer (University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina) Dr. Francois Gonon (University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France) Dr. Peter Magill & Dr. Nicolas Mallet (MRC, Anatomical Neuropharmacology Unit, OX, UK) Dr. Judith Walters (National Institute of Health, USA) Dr. Thomas Boraud (Bordeaux, France) Dr. Antonio Pisani (Rome, Italy) Dr. Pascal Salin & Dr. Paolo Gubellini (Marseille, France) Dr. Christelle Baunez (Marseille, France) Dr. Joshua Golberg & Prof. Hagai Bergman (The Hebrew University-Hadassah MedicalSchool, Israel) Dr. Kuei Y. Tseng (Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, The Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, IL, USA) Section IV. Computational Analyses of the Cortico-subcortical Dynamics & Parkinson's Disease Dr. Aaron Gruber (University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA) Dr. Jeffrey Wickens & Prof. Gordon Arbuthnott (Otago, New Zealand) Dr. Kevin Gurney (University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK) Section V. Neurobiology and Pathophysiology of Parkinson's Disease Dr. Miquel Vila (ICREA, Barcelona, Spain) Dr. Serge Przedborski (Department of Neurology, Columbia University, NY, USA) Dr. Patrick Michel (INSERM, Paris, France) Dr. Annie Lannuzel (Department of Neurology, Hospital of Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe) Dr. Emilio Fernandez-Espejo (Department of Physiology, University of Sevilla School of Medicine, Sevilla, Spain) Dr. Dave Sulzer (Department of Neurology, Columbia University, NY, USA) Section VI. Pharmacological and non-Pharmacological Treatments in Parkinson's Disease Dr. Oscar Gershanik (ININFA, Buenos Aires, Argentina) Dr. Philippe Damier (Nantes, France)