Basal Ganglia Physiological Behavioral And Computational Studies

The basal ganglia has received much attention over the last two decades, as it has been implicated in many neurological and psychiatric disorders. Most of this research—in both animals and humans—attempt to understand the neural and biochemical substrates of basic motor and learning processes, and how these are affected in human patients as well as animal models of brain disorders. The current volume contains research articles and reviews describing basic, pre-clinical and clinical neuroscience research of the basal ganglia written by attendees of the 11th Triennial Meeting of the International Basal Ganglia Society (IBAGS) that was held March 3-7th, 2013 at the Princess Hotel, Eilat, Israel and by researchers of the basal ganglia. Specifically, articles in this volume include research reports on the biochemistry, computational theory, anatomy and physiology of single neurons and functional circuitry of the basal ganglia networks as well as the latest data on animal models of basal ganglia dysfunction and clinical studies in human patients.

The anatomy and physiology of the basal ganglia and their relation to brain and behavior, disorders and therapies, and philosophy of mind and moral values. The main task of the basal ganglia—a group of subcortical nuclei, located at the base of the brain—is to optimize and execute our automatic behavior. In this book, Hagai Bergman analyzes the anatomy and physiology of the basal ganglia, discussing their relation to brain and behavior, to disorders and therapies, and even to moral values. Drawing on his forty years of studying the basal ganglia, Bergman presents new information on physiology and computational models, Parkinson’s disease and other ganglia-related disorders, and such therapies as deep brain stimulation. Focusing on studies of nonhuman primates and human basal ganglia and relying on system physiology and in vivo extra-cellular recording techniques, Bergman first describes the major brain structures that constitute the basal ganglia, the morphology of their cellular elements, their synaptic connectivity and their physiological function in health and disease. He discusses the computational physiology of the healthy basal ganglia, describing four generations of computational models, and then traces the computational physiology of basal ganglia–related disorders and their treatments, including Parkinson’s disease and its pharmacological and surgical therapies. Finally, Bergman considers the implications of these findings for such moral concerns as free will. Explaining this leap into domains rarely explored in neuroscientific accounts, Bergman writes that the longer he studies the basal ganglia, the more he is convinced that they are truly the base of both brain and mind.

This book brings together the biology and computational features of the basal ganglia and their related cortical areas along with select examples of how this knowledge can be integrated into neural network models. Recent years have seen a remarkable expansion of knowledge about the anatomical organization of the part of the brain known as the basal ganglia, the signal processing that occurs in these structures, and the many relations both to molecular mechanisms and to cognitive functions. This book brings together the biology and computational features of the basal ganglia and their related cortical areas along with select examples of how this knowledge can be integrated into neural network models. Organized in four parts - fundamentals, motor functions and working memories, reward mechanisms, and cognitive and memory operations - the chapters present a unique admixture of theory, cognitive psychology, anatomy, and both cellular- and systems- level physiology written by experts in each of these areas. The editors have provided commentaries as a helpful guide to each part. Many new discoveries about the biology of the basal ganglia are summarized, and their impact on the computational role of the forebrain in the planning and control of complex motor behaviors discussed. The various findings point toward an unexpected role for the basal ganglia in the contextual analysis of the environment and in the adaptive use of this information for the planning and execution of intelligent behaviors. Parallels are explored between these findings and new connectionist approaches to difficult control problems in robotics and engineering. Contributors James L. Adams, P. Apicella, Michael Arbib, Dana H. Ballard, Andrew G. Barto, J. Brian Burns, Christopher I. Connolly, Peter F. Dominey, Richard P. Dum, John Gabrieli, M. Garcia-Munoz, Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic, Ann M. Graybiel, P. M. Groves, Mary M. Hayhoe, J. R. Hollerman, George Houghton, James C. Houk, Stephen Jackson, Minoru Kimura, A. B. Kirillov, Rolf Kotter, J. C. Linder, T. Ljungberg, M. S. Manley, M. E. Martone, J. Mirenowicz, C. D. Myre, Jeff Pelz, Nathalie Picard, R. Romo, S. F. Sawyer, E Scarnat, Wolfram Schultz, Peter L. Strick, Charles J. Wilson, Jeff Wickens, Donald J. Woodward, S. J. Young

The book is a compendium of the aforementioned subclass of models of Basal Ganglia, which presents some the key existent theories of Basal Ganglia function. The book presents computational models of basal ganglia-related disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and addiction. Importantly, it highlights the applications of understanding the role of the basal ganglia to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. The purpose of the present book is to amend and expand on James Houk’s book (MIT press; ASIN: B010BF4U9K) by providing a comprehensive overview on computational models of the basal ganglia. This book caters to researchers and academics from the area of computational cognitive neuroscience.

This volume is the first comprehensive and single-authored book on the functions of the basal ganglia. The goal is to provide a new synthesis of diverse areas of research on the basal ganglia, from cellular mechanisms of synaptic transmission and plasticity to neural circuit mechanisms underlying behavior. A global theory of basal ganglia function incorporating research from the last 40 years is presented. I hope to explain for the first time how the basal ganglia generate behavior, how they contribute to learning and memory, and how impairments in basal ganglia function can lead to neurological and psychiatric disorders. Features The only single-authored book on the basal ganglia with coverage of the latest literature. Spans multiple levels of analysis, from cellular physiology to behavior. Includes coverage of clinical symptoms, encompassing neuropsychology, movement disorders, and psychiatric disorders. Discusses the role of the basal ganglia in learning and memory.

Sixty-one proceedings papers from the May 1995 meeting updating research and presenting new ideas and data on the basal ganglia. The contributors addressed topics in the functional connectivity of the basal ganglia, the characteristics of its neurons, transmitters, and modulators, the neurophysiology of the basal ganglia and related nuclei, behavioral and physiological studies of its disorders, its neurochemistry and neuropharmacology, the characterization of basal ganglia disorders, and animal models of those disorders. Includes illustrations. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This volume contains articles describing research on the basic, pre-clinical and clinical neuroscience of the basal ganglia written by attendees of the 10th Triennial Meeting of the International Basal Ganglia Society (IBAGS) that was held June 20-24th, 2010 at the Ocean Place Resort in Long Branch, New Jersey, USA. For each of the preceding 9 IBAGS meetings, the meeting proceedings were published conventionally as a volume in the Advances in Behavioral Biology series. These volumes were expensive, were published only in very small quantities, had very limited availability to both basal ganglia researchers and the general neuroscience community, were not available on-line and the articles contained in each were not indexed in online searchable databases. Now, for the first time, IBAGS is taking full advantage of modern innovations in scientific publication and publishing IBAGS X as a Research Topics issue of Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. The issue will be available on-line and is fully indexed by searchable databases including PubMed. Articles will include reports on the latest research on the anatomy and neurophysiology of single neurons and functional circuitry in the striatum, globus pallidus, subthalamic nucleus and substantia nigra as well as the latest data on animal models of basal ganglia dysfunction as well as behavioral and clinical studies in human patients.

This volume was generated from papers presented at the Second Triennial Symposium of the International Basal Ganglia Society (IBAGS) held at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, July 21-23, 1986. The meeting was held as a satellite symposium following the XXX Congress of the International Union of Physiological Sciences at Vancouver. IBAGS was founded at a similar satellite symposium held in Lorne, Australia, organized by John S. McKenzie and sponsored by the University of Melbourne. The symposium held in Australia was attended by 50 scientists from 12 different countries. The results of the first symposium, edited by John S. McKenzie, Robert E. Kemm and Lynette N. Wilcock, were published by Plenum Press in 1984 under the title, The Basal Ganglia - Structure and Function. It was decided that the Society should meet on a triennial basis. The time and place for Second IBAGS Symposium were set by A.G. Phillips who served as Chairman of the Program Committee along with I. Divac, S.A. Greenfield and E.T. Rolls and J.S. McKenzie. Michael E. Corcoran of the Department of Psychology, University of Victoria served as the on-site coordinator and arranger for the Symposium. He was ably assisted by Ms. Morag McNeil who handled the details which made the meeting run smoothly.