The basal ganglia are subcortical nuclei controlling voluntary actions and have been
implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD). The prevailing model of basal ganglia function …

The lamprey belongs to the phylogenetically oldest group of vertebrates that diverged from
the mammalian evolutionary line 560 million years ago. A comparison between the lamprey …

Human telencephalon is an evolutionarily advanced brain structure associated with many
uniquely human behaviors and disorders. However, cell lineages and molecular pathways …

Among the many neuromodulators used by the mammalian brain to regulate circuit function
and plasticity, dopamine (DA) stands out as one of the most behaviorally powerful …

The basal ganglia are a chain of subcortical nuclei that facilitate action selection. Two striatal
projection systems—so-called direct and indirect pathways—form the functional backbone of …

Dopamine cell firing can encode errors in reward prediction, providing a learning signal to
guide future behavior. Yet dopamine is also a key modulator of motivation, invigorating …

The mesocorticolimbic pathway is canonically known as the" reward pathway." Embedded
within the center of this circuit is the striatum, a massive and complex network hub that …

Addictive drugs have in common that they target the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA)
system. This system originates in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and projects mainly to the …

To infer the causes of its sensations, the brain must call on a generative (predictive) model.
This necessitates passing local messages between populations of neurons to update beliefs …

The promise of using reprogrammed human neurons for disease modeling and regenerative
medicine relies on the ability to induce patient-derived neurons with high efficiency and …