Movement
in the body is directly controlled by motor cortex, and
also determined by multiple subcortical structures, such
as thalamus and the basal ganglia (including striatum
and dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra). Many
lines of evidence have suggested the
cortico-striato-nigro-thalamo-cortical circuitry plays a
major role in motor learning and control. This circuitry
has also been investigated for its causal role in the
onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases.
Neurodegenerative diseases are often associated with
movement disorders and neuronal dysfunction in
degenerated brain structures, such as the striatum in
Huntington’s disease and dopaminergic neurons in the
substantia nigra pars compacta in Parkinson's disease.
Degeneration fundamentally changes the dynamics of local
neuronal circuits, and these changes then propagate
through the structural connectome of whole brain
circuitry, eventually altering global brain dynamics.
However, our current understanding of these system
dynamics in the cortico-striato-nigro-thalamo-cortical
circuitry remains rudimentary. Hence, theoretical
studies about critical system variables and
computational principles of this circuitry, constrained
by recordings throughout, will shed new light on causes
of motor dysfunction and neurodegenerative diseases.
This
Research Topic of Frontiers in Computational
Neuroscience aims to bring together recent advances in
theoretical modeling of
cortico-striato-nigro-thalamo-cortical network and
experimental observations. Topics of interest include,
but are not limited to, local brain circuit modeling,
the functional role of neuronal plasticity in the local
and global circuit, global circuit interactions and
information exchange, new models validated by
experimental observations, and dynamic disease risk
analysis through perturbation studies.
Best regards,
Pengsheng Zheng
zhengp@us.ibm.com
T.J. Watson Research Center
1101 Kitchawan Rd., 13-114A
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598