Microcircuits in the Striatum

The aim of this chapter is to bring together data from anatomical, neurochemical, physiological, and behavioral studies in an attempt to understand how the properties of the microcircuits of the striatum can underlie behavior in reward-related paradigms. The canonical microcircuit of the striatum in relation to corticostriatal and dopaminergic afferents is first described. Mechanisms of the selection of “appropriate assemblies of cortical neurons” for the required behavior, by the microcircuit and through the action of the neuromodulators, dopamine and acetylcholine, on corticostriatal synapses are described. The roles of dopaminergic afferents to the striatum and cholinergic neurons within the striatum in reward-related paradigm are discussed. Finally, a mechanism of how the microcircuit, at both the cellular and molecular level, can interface with global brain function in the production of reward-related behavior is discussed.