title: Functional anatomy of the basal ganglia.
abstract: Four organizational levels of the basal ganglia that could be particularly determinant in terms of functional properties are reviewed: (1) macroscopic anatomy, which is characterized by a dramatic decrease of cerebral tissue volume from the cerebral cortex to the deepest portions of the basal ganglia; (2) connectivity, which consists of both complex loops and a partition into three territories, sensorimotor, associative, and limbic (which process motor, cognitive, and emotional information, respectively); (3) neuronal morphology, characterized by a dramatic numeric and geometric convergence of striatal neurons onto pallidonigral neurons; and (4) dopaminergic innervation of the basal ganglia, which is organized as a dual system that is supposed to have opposite effects on the activity of the system. Current models of the basal ganglia are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U289, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France. yelnik@ccr.jussieu.fr
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yelnik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine