A Theory of the Basal Ganglia and Their Disorders, R. Miller, Publishers CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group (2008), Price: $164.95, ISBN: 1-4200-5897-5

Abstract

This book provides a literature-based theoretical model of the basal ganglia (BG) and their involvement in neuropsychiatric diseases. The author, Robert Miller, has published many articles and also monographs on the brain's functions. He is currently a freelance researcher and has been awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for his contribution to schizophrenia research. The text of this book can be divided in two major parts. In the first part, the authors focus on the BG physiology and explain that the BG do not only control movement, but also non-movement behaviour such as executive functions and behavioural selection strategies. The mechanisms by which the BG is involved in these functions are explained on the basis of the major inhibitory and excitatory connections between the basal ganglia stuctures, the striatum, pallidal complex (globus pallidus internus and externus), the subthalamic nucleus, and the nigral complex (pars compacta and reticulata), and related synaptic processes, but also input from outside the BG is discussed. The classical idea of the indirect pathway involving the striatum, the external part of the globus pallidus, the subthalamic nucleus and then the basal ganglia output (globus pallidus internus and the substantia nigra pars reticulata) and the direct pathway consisting of the same structures except for the globus pallidus externus and the subthalamic nucleus is highlighted and discussed ...