title: [A contribution of synaptic plasticity in the basal ganglia to processing of visual information].
abstract: The mechanism of involvement of the basal ganglia in processing of visual information on the basis of dopamine-dependent modulation of efficacy of synaptic transmission in interconnected parallel associative and limbic loops (cortex--basal ganglia--thalamus--cortex) is proposed. Each loop consists of one of the visual or prefrontal cortical areas connected with the thalamic nucleus and corresponding loci in different nuclei of the basal ganglia. Circulation of activity in such a loop provides reentrance of information into the thalamus and neocortex. Dopamine releasing in response to a visual stimulus oppositely modulates the efficacy of "strong" and "weak" corticostriatal inputs. Subsequent reorganization of activity in the loop leads to a disinhibition (inhibition) of activity of those cortical neurons that were "strongly" ("weakly)" excited by the visual stimulus simultaneously with activation of dopaminergic cells. A selected neuronal pattern in each cortical area represents a property of the visual stimulus processed by this area. Excitation of dopaminergic cells by the visual stimulus via the superior colliculi requires parallel activation of a disinhibitory input to the superior colliculi via the thalamus and a "direct" pathway through the basal ganglia. The prefrontal cortex excited by the visual stimulus via the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus performs a top-down control over the dopaminergic cell activity, supervising simultaneous dopamine release in different striatal loci and thus promotes the interconnected selection of neuronal representations of individual properties of the visual stimulus and their binding in an integrated image.
authors.forename: I G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Sil'kis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine