A novel connection from ventral striatum to motor cortex enables emotion and motivation to influence action and motor control.

Activity in cortico-basal ganglia circuits of juvenile songbirds reflects evaluative signals necessary for comparing self-generated behavior to a goal representation during skill learning.

M2 cortex-dorsolateral striatum circuit is functionally altered in Huntington's disease and, by boosting its activity, we reverse symptoms at behavioral, physiological, and morphological level in symptomatic mice.

Globus pallidus neurons projecting to the striatum are preferentially activated by direct glutamatergic innervation from the motor cortex.

Acquisition of behavioral sequences in normally aged mice involves short and unusually fast patterns of action, some of which are reproduced by striatal circuitry manipulations in young mice and can be transitorily restored through action-related feedback.

Interactions between cortical and subcortical circuits in the mammalian brain flexibly control the flow of information streams that drive decisions by shifting the balance of power both within and between action representations.

The first comprehensive map of all excitatory inputs to the mouse striatum is presented and used to define and demarcate striatal subdivisions, including a previous unappreciated novel subdivision in the posterior striatum.

When coupling between STN spikes and cortical gamma oscillations was strong, subsequent movement was initiated earlier, independent of changes in mean firing rates, demonstrating the importance of relative spike timing.

The cerebellum sends a functional input to the song-related basal ganglia via the thalamus in songbirds that can modify premotor activity, and it participates to song learning in juvenile birds.

Dopaminergic medication has differential effects on the discovered electrophysiological networks, which could be used to develop new electrical and pharmacological interventions in Parkinson’s disease.