Neuronal populations in motor areas of cerebral cortex that act as input to the basal ganglia will be identified by retrograde transport of tritiated acetyl wheat germ agglutinin or wheat germ agglutinin conjegated to horseradish peroxidase. Paired injections in neostriatum and each of several other major targets of motor and premotor cortex will also be performed. The neurons projecting to neostriatum will be compared to those giving rise to other important motor cortex output pathways, and the extent to which nerurons in cerebral cortex have branched axons projecting to neostriatum and another structure will be assessed. Corticostriatal enruons from each of the populations defined in this way will also be identified by antidromic activation in intracellular recording experiments. These cells will be stained by intracellular injection of horseradish peroxidase to examine their dendritic branching patterns (as an indication of what inputs they might receive), their patterns of intracortical synaptic connections (inferred from the distribution of their intracortical axonal arborizations) and the size and shape of the area in neostriatum that receives an input from a single axon. In addition, major inputs to these cortical areas will be stimulated and the responses of intracellularly recorded corticostriatal neurons analysed to determine the extent to which different populations of corticostriatal neurons recieve synaptic input from ventral thalamic nuclei, contralateral motor and premotor cortex, and axon collaterals of pyramidal tract neurons. These experiments are designed to help to define the nature of the motor cortex input to the basal ganglia by comparing the neurons that convey it to those carrying cortical efferent activity in pathways whose behavioral importance is more clearly understood. They will also contribute to the process of defining the operations performed by the basal ganglia on its cortical input.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Modified Research Career Development Award (K04)
Project #
5K04NS001078-05
Application #
3074919
Study Section
Neurology B Subcommittee 2 (NEUB)
Project Start
1986-01-01
Project End
1990-12-31
Budget Start
1990-01-01
Budget End
1990-12-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
1990
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
941884009
City
Memphis
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
38163
Xu, Z C; Wilson, C J; Emson, P C (1991) Restoration of thalamostriatal projections in rat neostriatal grafts: an electron microscopic analysis. J Comp Neurol 303:22-34
Kawaguchi, Y; Wilson, C J; Emson, P C (1990) Projection subtypes of rat neostriatal matrix cells revealed by intracellular injection of biocytin. J Neurosci 10:3421-38
Wilson, C J; Xu, Z C; Emson, P C et al. (1990) Anatomical and physiological properties of the cortical and thalamic innervations of neostriatal tissue grafts. Prog Brain Res 82:417-26
Cowan, R L; Wilson, C J; Emson, P C et al. (1990) Parvalbumin-containing GABAergic interneurons in the rat neostriatum. J Comp Neurol 302:197-205
Wilson, C J; Park, M R (1989) Capacitance compensation and bridge balance adjustment in intracellular recording from dendritic neurons. J Neurosci Methods 27:51-75
Kawaguchi, Y; Wilson, C J; Emson, P C (1989) Intracellular recording of identified neostriatal patch and matrix spiny cells in a slice preparation preserving cortical inputs. J Neurophysiol 62:1052-68
Wilson, C J (1988) Cellular mechanisms controlling the strength of synapses. J Electron Microsc Tech 10:293-313
Wilson, C J (1987) Morphology and synaptic connections of crossed corticostriatal neurons in the rat. J Comp Neurol 263:567-80