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The Subthalamic Nucleus: A More Complex Structure than Expected

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The Basal Ganglia IV

Part of the book series: Advances in Behavioral Biology ((ABBI,volume 41))

Abstract

Almost all the papers on the subthalamic nucleus, after the usual review of its anatomical connections, summarize the function of this structure with the classical reference to hemiballism. This type of anatomopathological approach is still widely used in neurobiology, despite the fact that it is a little strange to define subthalamic nucleus functions by reference to its dysfunction. The physiological functions have only recently been freed from the impressive and restrictive clinical description of hemiballism. Currently, facts and hypotheses stress the relationship between hypo- or hyperactivity of the subthalamic neurons and two opposite motor dysfunctions, hyperkinesia as in hemiballism and akinesia as in parkinsonism. Moreover, the importance of subthalamic inputs arising from associative or limbic structures should not be overlooked since they are an integral part of this concept of the function of the subthalamic nucleus and suggest that this structure has broader and more complex involvement in a large range of activities which may or may not have a motor component.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Pharmacologie, Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques Biologiques, Université R. Descartes, 75006, Paris, France

    Jean Féger & Mireille Mouroux

  2. Laboratoire de Neurophysiologie, CNRS URA 1200, Université de Bordeaux II, France

    Abdelhamid Benazzouz, Thomas Boraud & Christian Gross

  3. Experimental Neurology and Myology group, Department of Cell and Structural Biology, University of Manchester Medical School, Manchester, Great Britain

    Alan R. Crossman

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  1. Jean Féger
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  2. Mireille Mouroux
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  3. Abdelhamid Benazzouz
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  4. Thomas Boraud
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  5. Christian Gross
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  6. Alan R. Crossman
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. INSERM, Paris, France

    Gérard Percheron

  2. University of Melbourne, Melboune, Australia

    John S. McKenzie

  3. Université R. Descartes, Paris, France

    Jean Féger

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© 1994 Plenum Press, New York

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Féger, J., Mouroux, M., Benazzouz, A., Boraud, T., Gross, C., Crossman, A.R. (1994). The Subthalamic Nucleus: A More Complex Structure than Expected. In: Percheron, G., McKenzie, J.S., Féger, J. (eds) The Basal Ganglia IV. Advances in Behavioral Biology, vol 41. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0485-2_39

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0485-2_39

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