Community Research and Development Information Service - CORDIS

The input layer of the basal ganglia, the striatum, plays a critical role in the control of motor behaviour and cognitive function. It serves as a filter for cortical and thalamic signals and takes part in determining which actions should be performed at a given instant. Our goal is to define the cellular and network organisation underlying decision-making by analysing the microcircuitry of subpopulations of neurons in striatum (interneurons and projection neurons) concerned with the control of different patterns of behaviour, and their input from cortex (pallium), thalamus and the modulatory inputs from dopaminergic, histaminergic and 5-HT neurons. The microcircuitry will be studied in slices of striatum with patch electrode recordings from three or more identified subtypes of neurons at the same time, while synaptic and membrane properties are investigated and also the synaptic response to the different input systems.