title: Frontosubthalamic Circuits for Control of Action and Cognition.
abstract: The subthalamic nucleus (STN) of the basal ganglia appears to have a potent role in action and cognition. Anatomical and imaging studies show that different frontal cortical areas directly project to the STN via so-called hyperdirect pathways. This review reports some of the latest findings about such circuits, including simultaneous recordings from cortex and the STN in humans, single-unit recordings in humans, high-resolution fMRI, and neurocomputational modeling. We argue that a major function of the STN is to broadly pause behavior and cognition when stop signals, conflict signals, or surprise signals occur, and that the fronto-STN circuits for doing this, at least for stopping and conflict, are dissociable anatomically and in terms of their spectral reactivity. We also highlight recent evidence for synchronization of oscillations between prefrontal cortex and the STN, which may provide a preferential "window in time" for single neuron communication via long-range connections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California 92093-0109, adamaron@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: Adam R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Aron
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Brain Network Dynamics Unit, and Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3TH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Damian M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Herz
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Brain Network Dynamics Unit, and Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3TH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5201-3044
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Center, University of Amsterdam, Psychology, Roetersstraat 15, Amsterdam 1018, The Netherlands, and.
authors.forename: Birte U
authors.initials: BU
authors.lastname: Forstmann
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland 20892.
authors.forename: Kareem
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zaghloul
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003344:Cortical Synchronization / Q000502:physiology*; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D020531:Subthalamic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: basal ganglia; conflict; oscillations; response inhibition; stopping; surprise