The overall objective of this work is to understand the function of the basal ganglia in both the normal and diseased states. Pathology of the basal ganglia leads to several mental health disorders including dementias due to Parkinson's and Huntington's Disease as well as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Tourette's Syndrome. However, little is known about the precise function of the basal ganglia circuit must be formed. The goal of this project is to understand how neurons in the Globus Pallidus (GP), a nucleus in the basal ganglia, process inputs. By understanding how the intrinsic properties these neurons interact with thousands of synaptic inputs to form a single output spike train, sight into the function of this stage of the basal ganglia circuit may be obtained. Specifically the distribution of intrinsic conductances will be examined using antibody labeling observed with electron microscopy. A compartmental model of single neurons will be made incorporating this information. This model will be used to probe the input-output function of GP neurons. The insight gained from this model will be related to real neurons by testing predictions of the model in living neurons, using in vitro electrophysiological recordings with simulated synaptic inputs. This approach of integrating information from experimental measurements and model simulations will provide a description of how these neurons process inputs. The knowledge gained by this study will provide an important piece of the puzzle in the effort to understand normal and diseased function of the basal ganglia.
| Hanson, Jesse E; Smith, Yoland; Jaeger, Dieter (2004) Sodium channels and dendritic spike initiation at excitatory synapses in globus pallidus neurons. J Neurosci 24:329-40 |
| Hanson, Jesse E; Smith, Yoland (2002) Subcellular distribution of high-voltage-activated calcium channel subtypes in rat globus pallidus neurons. J Comp Neurol 442:89-98 |
| Hanson, Jesse E; Jaeger, Dieter (2002) Short-term plasticity shapes the response to simulated normal and parkinsonian input patterns in the globus pallidus. J Neurosci 22:5164-72 |
