[Frontal-subcortical neuronal circuits]

Recent findings on frontal and subcortical circuitry provide an uniform and integral view of numerous neurological and psychiatric disorders. Frontal cortical areas, the basal ganglia and the thalamus are linked in parallel circuits, which can be related to specific mental and motor functions and pathologies. In particular, five such circuits can be distinguished: (1) motor, (2) oculomotor, (3) dorsolateral-pre-frontal, (4) lateral orbitofrontal, and (5) mediofrontal limbic. The anatomy of these circuits as well as the involved neurotransmitters provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the symptoms of neurological diseases such as frontal lobe infarctions, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and Binswanger's disease, as well as psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenic, affective, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.