Research in this group studies the basal ganglia, a major neural system through which the cerebral cortex affects behavior. The major component of the basal ganglia, the striatum, receives inputs from most of the cortex. Three major lines of research are followed: 1) Neuroanatomical mapping of basal ganglia connections, 2) characterization of striatal neurons in terms of their connections, and expression of repertoires of neurotransmitter receptors subtypes, signal transduction systems, and peptides, and 3) pharmacologic manipulations of dopaminergic, cholinergic and peptidergic systems to determine the functional organization of the striatum using quantitative in situ hybridization histochemistry. Neuroanatomical studies reveal a hierarchy of functional compartments within the striatum that reflect parallel processing of cortical information. For example, the two major output systems of the striatum, the striatonigral and striatopallidal pathways respectively express D1 and D2 dopamine receptor subtypes. In normal behavior there is a delicate balance between these two pathways, which regulate excitatory and inhibitory activity of the major output systems of the basal ganglia. In Parkinson's disease, the normal balance is disrupted and the striatopallidal pathway appears to become overactive. Studies from this research group have provided insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying basal ganglia dysfunction.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Intramural Research (Z01)
Project #
1Z01MH002497-03
Application #
3845297
Study Section
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
Budget End
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1992
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
U.S. National Institute of Mental Health
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
State
Country
United States
Zip Code
Ruiz, Sarah K; Harris, Susan J; Martinez, Pedro et al. (2018) Young adult's attachment style as a partial mediator between maternal functioning and young adult offsprings' functioning. J Affect Disord 232:393-399
Gerfen, Charles R; Economo, Michael N; Chandrashekar, Jayaram (2018) Long distance projections of cortical pyramidal neurons. J Neurosci Res 96:1467-1475
Gerfen, Charles R; Paletzki, Ronald; Heintz, Nathaniel (2013) GENSAT BAC cre-recombinase driver lines to study the functional organization of cerebral cortical and basal ganglia circuits. Neuron 80:1368-83
Gerfen, Charles R; Paletzki, Ronald; Worley, Paul (2008) Differences between dorsal and ventral striatum in Drd1a dopamine receptor coupling of dopamine- and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein-32 to activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase. J Neurosci 28:7113-20
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Brown, Pierre; Gerfen, Charles R (2006) Plasticity within striatal direct pathway neurons after neonatal dopamine depletion is mediated through a novel functional coupling of serotonin 5-HT2 receptors to the ERK 1/2 map kinase pathway. J Comp Neurol 498:415-30
Gerfen, Charles R (2006) Indirect-pathway neurons lose their spines in Parkinson disease. Nat Neurosci 9:157-8

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