Neurobiology Seminar: "Regulation of Motor Behavior by Basal Ganglia Circuitry"

Summary:
Neural circuits of the basal ganglia are critical for adaptive motor control and have been implicated in movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and dyskinesia. Two parallel basal ganglia pathways have been described: the direct and indirect pathways. These are proposed to exert opposing influences on motor function: the direct pathway facilitates movement and the indirect pathway suppresses movement. To understand in greater detail how basal ganglia circuits regulate motor function and dysfunction, we have recorded and manipulated neurons at different stages in the basal ganglia circuit, including the striatum and a major downstream target implicated in locomotor control, the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR). We identified subsets of neurons in the MLR that control locomotion, which are innervated by basal ganglia output regions and sensitive to activation of basal ganglia circuitry. Our results establish a specific neuronal pathway for locomotor control by the basal ganglia.