The Basal Ganglia

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 groundbreaking text takes current knowledge of the basal ganglia far from well-known motor-based models to a more inclusive understanding of deep-brain structure and function. Synthesizing diverse perspectives from across the brain-behavioral sciences, it tours the neuroanatomy and circuitry of the basal ganglia, linking their organization to their controlling functions in core cognitive, behavioral, and motor areas, both normative and disordered. Interactions between the basal ganglia and major structures of the brain are identified in their contributions to a diverse range of processes, from language processing to decision-making, emotion to visual perception, motivation to intent. And the basal ganglia are intimately involved in the mechanisms of dysfunction, as evinced by chapters on dyskinesia, Parkinson’s disease, neuropsychiatric conditions, and addictions. Included in the coverage: Limbic-basal ganglia circuits: parallel and integrative aspects. Dopamine and its actions in the basal ganglia system. Cerebellar-basal ganglia interactions. The basal ganglia contribution to controlled and automatic processing. The basal ganglia and decision making in neuropsychiatric disorders. The circuitry underlying the reinstatement of cocaine seeking: modulation by deep brain stimulation. The basal ganglia and hierarchical control in voluntary behavior. Its breadth and depth of scholarship and data should make The Basal Ganglia a work of great interest to cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, neurologists, neuropsychiatrists, and speech-language pathologists.

The Basal Ganglia comprise a group of forebrain nuclei that are interconnected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus and brainstem. Basal ganglia circuits are involved in various functions, including motor control and learning, sensorimotor integration, reward and cognition. The importance of these nuclei for normal brain function and behavior is emphasized by the numerous and diverse disorders associated with basal ganglia dysfunction, including Parkinson’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, Huntington’s disease, obsessive-compulsive disorder, dystonia, and psychostimulant addiction. The Handbook of Basal Ganglia provides a comprehensive overview of the structural and functional organization of the basal ganglia, with special emphasis on the progress achieved over the last 10-15 years. Organized in six parts, the volume describes the general anatomical organization and provides a review of the evolution of the basal ganglia, followed by detailed accounts of recent advances in anatomy, cellular/molecular, and cellular/physiological mechanisms, and our understanding of the behavioral and clinical aspects of basal ganglia function and dysfunction. Synthesizes widely dispersed information on the behavioral neurobiology of the basal ganglia, including advances in the understanding of anatomy, cell-molecular and cell-physiological mechanisms, and behavioral/clinical aspects of function and dysfunction Features a truly international cast of the preeminent researchers in the field Fully explores the clinically relevant impact of the basal ganglia on various psychiatric and neurological diseases

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.

New edition building on the success of previous one. Retains core aim of providing an accessible introduction to behavioral neuroanatomy.

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 Basal ganglia, to adopt a phrase of Churchill's, are "a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." And although there is a wealth of information available on them, this research field remains controversial due in part to the diverse number of disciplines involved. A Theory of the Basal Ganglia and Their Disorders provides a clear, coherent view of basal ganglia that integrates evidence from the basic neurosciences, neurology, and psychiatry. The author explores the basal ganglia within a context of the function of the mammalian forebrain as a whole. Divided into two parts, the book explores the basic framework in which normal functions of the basal ganglia can be understood, and then moves on to discuss major disorders. It explains, as far as possible, symptoms and related clinical facts in terms of the underlying pathology and pathophysiology. With this goal in mind, the author includes only disorders of the basal ganglia for which there are already clear ideas about the underlying neuropathology or pathophysiology. He also conveys the human experience of these disorders as well as their scientific basis. While many books cover cutting-edge research, none have addressed large-scale questions about the role of the basal ganglia as a whole. Until now. This is arguably the only book published in the last 50 years that has attempted to provide an overall theory of the basal ganglia, as well as relevant areas of neurology and psychiatry. It concisely presents the theory, rather than comprehensively covering all the literature, and places the essential clinical facts within a framework formulated for normal operations of the basal ganglia. Presenting a unified view, the book takes several steps toward unraveling the riddle that is basal ganglia.

The basal ganglia are involved in complex brain functions, from voluntary movement control to learning and reward processing, and they are implicated in numerous neurological and psychiatric disorders. Information from the cerebral cortex and thalamus is conveyed to basal ganglia nuclei via glutamate release, while dopamine from the midbrain is released in close proximity to glutamate. At the heart of both function and dysfunction of basal ganglia circuits is the interaction of these two neurotransmitters, dopamine and glutamate. Elucidating the relationship between their molecular and cellular effects and behavioural significance has been challenging, but in the past 5–10 years, improved labeling, imaging, recording, and genetic manipulation approaches have yielded new information on how dopamine and glutamate interact to generate the circuit activity underpinning basal ganglia function. Dopamine–Glutamate Interactions in the Basal Ganglia synthesizes this recent research from the level of receptor molecules all the way to complex behaviours and disease. Current insights from research on individual neurons and synapses, detailed circuit analysis, and learning and action functions of the basal ganglia are presented against a historical perspective. The book also discusses compromised dopamine–glutamate interaction in disorders of basal ganglia function, including Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and drug addiction.