title: Corticostriatal connectivity and its role in disease.
abstract: Corticostriatal projections are essential components of forebrain circuits and are widely involved in motivated behaviour. These axonal projections are formed by two distinct classes of cortical neurons, intratelencephalic (IT) and pyramidal tract (PT) neurons. Convergent evidence points to IT versus PT differentiation of the corticostriatal system at all levels of functional organization, from cellular signalling mechanisms to circuit topology. There is also growing evidence for IT/PT imbalance as an aetiological factor in neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric and movement disorders - autism, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, Huntington's and Parkinson's diseases and major depression are highlighted here.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. g-shepherd@ northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Gordon M G
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Shepherd
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology