During retinal development, neuroepithelial progenitor cells divide in either a symmetric proliferative mode, in which both daughter cells remain mitotic, or in a neurogenic mode, in which at least one daughter cell exits the cell cycle and differentiates as a neuron. Although the cellular mechanisms of neurogenesis remain unknown, heterogeneity in cell behaviors has been postulated to influenc...

A large population of immature neurons is present in the ventromedial portion of the adult primate amygdala, a region that receives substantial direct projections from the hippocampal formation. Here, we show the effects of neonatal (n = 8) and adult (n = 6) hippocampal lesions on the populations of mature and immature neurons in the paralaminar, lateral, and basal nuclei of the adult monkey am...

Somatotopic organization is a fundamental and key concept to understand how the cortico-basal ganglia loop works. It is also indispensable knowledge to perform stereotaxic surgery for movement disorders. Here I would like to describe the somatotopic organization of the basal ganglia, which consist of the striatum, subthalamic nucleus, globus pallidus, and substantia nigra. Projections from moto...

We have developed a slice preparation of the mouse basal ganglia which contains portions of the striatum, external pallidum, subthalamic nucleus and substantia nigra and the neocortex. This basal ganglia slice is unique in preserving functional direct and indirect connections between the striatum and the substantia nigra as well as interconnectivity between the globus pallidus and the subthalam...

Chronic high frequency stimulation of the basal ganglia can be a highly effective intervention for movement disorders in patients. In the past decade, therapeutic benefits have been seen with stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus and globus pallidus interna for Parkinson’s disease (PD) and dystonia, respectively. These procedures have allowed direct recording of basal ganglia activity and have...

The basal ganglia are a group of subcortical nuclei involved in a variety of processes, including motor, associative, cognitive, and mnemonic functions. The dorsal division of the basal ganglia consists of the striatum (divided into the caudate nucleus and putamen by the internal capsule in primates and other species), the external segment of the globus pallidus (GPe; simply globus pallidus in ...

The localization of the receptor for apamin, a specific toxin for one class of sensitive Ca2+-dependent K+ channel, was studied in rat brain using an in vitro autoradiographic technique. Radiolabeled monoiodoapamin binds specifically to rat brain sections with a high affinity (Kd = 25 pM) to a single class of sites. Autoradiograms demonstrated a very heterogeneous distribution of the apamin rec...

The distribution of GABA-like (GABA-Li) immunoreactivity in the rat amygdaloid complex was studied by using an anti-GABA antibody. GABALi positive neurons and processes were present in every nucleus of the complex. Three patterns of immunoreactivity were revealed: (1) the intercalated masses and the lateral olfactory tract nucleus exhibited the most intense staining of the neuropil, and virtual...

Three cases of disulfiram induced Parkinsonism and frontal lobe-like syndrome associated with bilateral lesions of the lentiform nuclei on CT scan are reported. Symptoms developed either after an acute high dose of disulfiram (one case) or after several days to weeks of disulfiram treatment (two cases) and persisted over several years in two patients. These observations suggest that basal gangl...