Task-related "cortical" bursting depends critically on basal ganglia input and is linked to vocal plasticity.

ABSTRACT: Basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits are critical for motor control and motor learning. Classically, basal ganglia nuclei are thought to regulate motor behavior by increasing or decreasing cortical firing rates, and basal ganglia diseases are assumed to reflect abnormal overall activity levels. More recent studies suggest instead that motor disorders derive from abnormal firing patterns, and have led to the hypothesis that surgical treatments, such as pallidotomy, act primarily by eliminating pathological firing patterns. Surprisingly little is known, however, about how the basal ganglia normally influence task-related cortical activity to regulate motor behavior, and how lesions of the basal ganglia influence cortical firing properties. Here, we investigated these questions in a songbir

SUBMITTER: Kojima S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3607039 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature