Abstract
The striatum and the subthalamic nucleus (STN) are two separate input structures into the basal ganglia (BG). Accordingly, research to date has primarily focused on the distinct roles of these structures in motor control and cognition, often through investigation of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Both structures are divided into sensorimotor, associative, and limbic subdivisions based on cortical connectivity. The more recent discovery of the STN as an input structure into the BG drives comparison of these two structures and their respective roles in cognition and motor control. This review compares the role of the striatum and STN in motor response inhibition and execution, competing motor programs, feedback based learning, and response planning. Through comparison, it is found that the striatum and STN have highly independent roles in motor control but also collaborate in order to execute desired actions. There is also the possibility that inhibition or activation of one of these structures indirectly contributes to the function of other connected anatomical structures. Both structures contribute to selective motor response inhibition, which forms the basis of many tasks, but the STN additionally contributes to global inhibition through the hyperdirect pathway. Research is warranted on the functional connectivity of the network for inhibition involving the rIFG, preSMA, striatum, and STN.
Highlights
The basal ganglia (BG) have been investigated as a control center for motor and cognitive behavior (Baláž et al, 2011) due to their dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease (PD; Hornykiewicz, 1966; Baláž et al, 2011)
It was thought that the striatum was the only input structure of the BG but it is known that the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is another entry point (Nambu et al, 1996; Baláz et al, 2012; Brunenberg et al, 2012)
In support of this finding in a raclopride binding PET study in humans, Lappin et al (2009) showed that in sequence learning and spatial mapping tasks there is an increase in dopamine release in the associative striatum during planning, while dopamine levels in the sensorimotor striatum increased during active motor control
Summary
The basal ganglia (BG) have been investigated as a control center for motor and cognitive behavior (Baláž et al, 2011) due to their dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease (PD; Hornykiewicz, 1966; Baláž et al, 2011). Fibers connecting various motor, somatosensory, and frontal cortices to the globus pallidus were identified, suggesting there may be an additional direct cortico-BG pathway (Milardi et al, 2015). Since the current understanding of information processing within the striatum suggests multiple distributed networks, the modulation and transfer of cortical information within the striatum is likely to be performed by many networks. We have indicated potential new and future directions of research that may guide further The mechanistic underpinnings of the behavioral aspects of functional comparisons between the striatum and the STN are largely hypothetical and beyond the scope of this article
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