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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Single Synapse Indicators of Glutamate Release and Uptake in Acute Brain Slices from Normal and Huntington Mice
Published on: March 11, 2020
Electrical synapses in basal ganglia
Marie Vandecasteele1, Jean-Michel Deniau, Jacques Glowinski
1Dynamique et Pathophysiologie des Réseaux Neuronaux, INSERM U667, Collège de France.
Abstract:
The basal ganglia (BG) provide a major integrative system of the forebrain involved in the organization of goal-directed behaviour. Pathological alteration of BG function leads to major motor and cognitive impairments such as observed in Parkinson's disease. Recent advances in BG research stress the role of neural oscillations and synchronization in the normal and pathological function of BG. As demonstrated in several brain structures, these patterns of neural activity can emerge from electrically coupled neuronal networks. This review aims at addressing the presence, functionality and putative role of electrical synapses in BG, with a particular emphasis on the striatum and the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc), two main BG nuclei in which the existence and functional properties of neuronal coupling are best documented.
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