title: Cortical operation of the ventral striatal switchboard.
abstract: How does the ventral striatum (VS) prioritize and process afferent input? In this issue, Calhoon and O'Donnell (2013) demonstrate that cortical projections to the VS can attenuate hippocampal and thalamic VS input, suggesting that the cortex can uniquely control VS circuit dynamics.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry & Cell Biology and Physiology, Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. gstuber@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: Garret D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Stuber