The functional logic of corticostriatal connections

Unidirectional connections from the cortex to the matrix of the corpus striatum initiate the cortico-basal ganglia (BG)-thalamocortical loop, thought to be important in momentary action selection and in longer-term fine tuning of behavioural repertoire; a discrete set of striatal compartments, striosomes, has the complementary role of registering or anticipating reward that shapes corticostriatal plasticity. Re-entrant signals traversing the...