title: Electrical synapses in basal ganglia.
abstract: The basal ganglia (BG) provide a major integrative system of the forebrain involved in the organization of goal-directed behaviour. Pathological alteration of BG function leads to major motor and cognitive impairments such as observed in Parkinson's disease. Recent advances in BG research stress the role of neural oscillations and synchronization in the normal and pathological function of BG. As demonstrated in several brain structures, these patterns of neural activity can emerge from electrically coupled neuronal networks. This review aims at addressing the presence, functionality and putative role of electrical synapses in BG, with a particular emphasis on the striatum and the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc), two main BG nuclei in which the existence and functional properties of neuronal coupling are best documented.
authors.affiliation: Dynamique et Pathophysiologie des Réseaux Neuronaux, INSERM U667, Collège de France.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vandecasteele
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Deniau
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Glowinski
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Venance
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D017629:Gap Junctions / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*